More Than Just an Omega
by PrincessTadashi
Summary: Ezra Bridger never thought that his best friend and crush, Hiro Hamada, could ever be his mate because everyone was sure that Hiro was destined to be an Alpha as well. But when Hiro suddenly presents as Omega and imprints on him, Ezra has to help his best friend remember that there's so much more to him than just being an Omega. (Alpha!Ezra/Omega!Hiro; Modern Day Omegaverse)
1. Chapter 1

Ezra was sitting across the table from his best friend Hiro Hamada, enjoying the fact that they both had a Saturday off for once. Even though they both only went to school during the week (Ezra in his last year at the local high school, and Hiro in his second at the city's local institute of technology, SFIT), Hiro usually had to help out at his aunt's cafe over the weekend, so it wasn't often that they a whole day off to themselves like this. It was nice just getting to relax and generally take a break from their busy schedules in order to spend time with each other. Hiro, especially, seemed to be in a good mood today, chattering on about a project he was working on for one of his robotics classes as he ate his soba noodles. Ezra was more than happy to let him talk about it for as long as he wanted, even if he didn't understand half of the things he was saying. He could listen to Hiro talk about anything for hours-although, if he was being perfectly honest with himself, he was doing less listening and more being, well… distracted. His eyes would settle on Hiro's fluffy, dark hair, and he'd start imagining how soft it would feel if he ran his fingers through it, and wondering what it would feel like to hold the other teen's hand under the table. If he let himself look for too long, he'd get lost in Hiro's deep, liquid brown eyes and start to feel like he was melting away into them…

But, as always, before he let his imagination drift too far, he has to pull himself back from his hormonal fantasies and into reality. As much as he wished he could finally voice the feelings that he'd been harboring inside for a very, very long time, he couldn't. Why? Simple. Because Ezra was an Alpha, and, from the time that Hiro had been born, almost everyone had been absolutely certain that he was going to be an Alpha too.

Hiro had always been extremely independent and strong-willed-definitely not typical submissive Omega material-and he was a bit too willing to get into fights in the order to protect his loved ones to be a lower-level Beta. So yes, it was almost a guarantee that Hiro was going to be an Alpha. And, as much as Ezra's wished it weren't the case, two Alphas never, ever became mates. An Alpha and a Beta? Yes. An Alpha and an Omega? Of course! But never two Alphas. Hiro hadn't presented yet-he was apparently a late bloomer like the rest of his family-but Ezra was still steeling himself to the day when it would happen. The day his best friend presented was the day he would permanently be forced to give up these delusions that somehow he and Hiro could work out despite the odds.

It wasn't like two Alphas hadn't tried to make it work before, despite societal pressures. Heaven knew Ezra had desperately searched the internet for any stories of Alphas who had successfully become mates. But of the very few stories that he did find, only maybe one or two had actually worked out. There was just something in their hormonal and biological nature that made it almost impossible for them to be mate compatible. From what Ezra had heard, sometimes it was even hard for two Alphas to be friends depending on how how their hormones reacted to each other. He could only hope that wouldn't be the case for him and Hiro. After all, one of his friends from school, Zare, had presented as an Alpha too and they got along fine! Still, it was a lingering fear in the back of his mind, no matter how much he tried to ignore it-would he have to risk losing his best friend completely because of some stupid biological thing neither of them could control? It didn't seem fair. But, then, who ever said that life was fair?

What was supposed to be a quiet sigh as he ponders his dismal situation came out a lot louder than he'd meant it to, and Hiro comes to a halt mid-sentence, frowning slightly. "Ez, if I was boring you, you could have said something," he notes, looking a bit hurt.

"What? Oh, no, Hiro you weren't boring me!" Ezra cries, snapping back to the present. "I'm sorry! I just-I had something else on my mind, and I'm really sorry for not paying more attention, but I swear you weren't boring me!"

"You sure?" Hiro didn't look fully convinced, but he seemed at least slightly appeased.

"Positive," Ezra answers firmly, daring to reach out and gently but firmly squeeze Hiro's hands in his own. "Trust me. You never bore me."

Hiro's lips twitch up slightly at that, and Ezra has to convince himself that he wasn't imagining the slightest tinge of pink in the other teen's cheeks as he says, "Good."

Ezra was luxuriating in the quiet moment as the other teen starts talking again, trying to figure out how long he could get away with holding the other's hands without it being awkward, when suddenly, out of nowhere, an amazing smell hits his nose. For a minute he thinks that someone must have brought a fresh tray of brownies or some other baked good out of the kitchen of the little cafe they were sitting in. But that wasn't quite right-it wasn't exactly the smell of pastries. It was something even more amazing, and it was making his mouth water in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with food. It wasn't until he saw several others in the Cafe (which was supposed to be Alphas-only to prevent the trouble that sometimes occurred when they were forced to share a small space with Omegas or Betas) looking their way with distinctly hungry expressions on their faces that the shocking realization of what exactly was going on came to him.

Hiro seemed completely oblivious to what was happening, although he had scrunched up his nose and was covering it with his hand, looking as if he was about to gag. "What is that?" he asks, his eyes almost watering from what to him was probably an overpowering stench of the twenty, thirty Alphas in the place. As previously unpresented, he'd never had to encounter the smell of others who had already presented before. But if Ezra was right, and Hiro had just presented, it was now all hitting him full force.

If it had just been one Alpha nearby, Hiro's reaction might have been markedly different, but so many at once was probably overwhelming him, which was why he was finding the smell disgusting as opposed to as attractive as the other Alphas were clearly finding what Ezra could only assume was Hiro's smell. Ezra didn't have time to overanalyze his best friend's reaction, though. He had a pretty strong feeling that he was right about what was happening to Hiro and, if he was indeed right, he needed to get him out of here now.

"Hiro, can you come with me?" Ezra asks, trying to keep his tone level as he gently tugs on the other teen's hand-if he could keep keep himself and Hiro calm, maybe they could both make it out of here without any real trouble.

"What? Why, what's going on?" the other teen asks, still looking like he was trying not to gag but being his usual stubborn self and wanting an explanation. Ezra usually would have been more than willing to appease his naturally curious nature, but this was not the time for his arguing.

"Hiro, now." As much as Ezra was trying to stay level-headed, the combination of his fear for his friend and Hiro's scent (which was coming on extremely strong as he had just newly presented) was making it very hard for him to do so, and he found his tone and actions coming out a lot more aggressive than he'd meant them to.

"E-Ez?" Hiro shrank back slightly from him, and Ezra immediately regrets what he'd just done, even if it hadn't been voluntary. He wanted to apologize, to try to make things right, but there just wasn't time. While most of the Alphas in the room were trying to have self control and looking away from Hiro while discreetly covering their noses, there were one or two who obviously didn't care that Hiro had no clue what was going on and in an extremely vulnerable position-if anything, Ezra was pretty sure that they were probably trying to take advantage of that. They were making their way over to the table, and even though Ezra could see some of the cafe workers coming out from behind the counter, probably to try to restrain them, he knew that they wouldn't get there in time. Acting on pure instinct, he gets up out of his chair and moves so that he's crouching in front of Hiro, a warning growl emanating from his throat (wow, he'd never actually growled before), making it clear that he wasn't going to let anyone come near Hiro.

The other Alphas slow for a moment, but after quickly sizing him up they resume their steady gait-most of them were almost twice Ezra's size, and it was obvious to everyone involved that they could easily take him. Ezra knew that if he tried to fight them he was probably going to end up with a few broken bones, at the very least. But that wasn't going to stop him from trying to protect his best friend.

Even though he couldn't see Hiro because he was facing away from him, Ezra could feel the other teen stiffening behind him, seeming to have finally realized what was happening as well. As much as Ezra wanted to turn around and tell him that it was going to be okay, to comfort him, he couldn't turn his back on the other Alphas or else they'd take advantage of his momentary distraction to take him down-and, worse, to try to take Hiro.

Ezra was just bracing himself for the first wave of the attack when he notices that some of the other cafe patrons had apparently decided to take action, leaping up from their tables to try to restrain the other Alphas. Within moments it becomes a free-for-all, the Alphas who were trying to get to Hiro fighting with the ones trying to protect the teen. While part of Ezra's instincts were to join in the fight-to defend Hiro's honor-he knew that it was more important to get Hiro out of ther. So, without even thinking about what he was doing, he scoops Hiro up into his arms and makes a break for the door.

He just barely manages to get out of there without accidentally being taken down by the other brawling patrons and the employees who had joined in, but somehow he manages it, and as soon as he's out the door, he starts sprinting as fast as he can for Hiro's home, knowing that he needs to get him somewhere safe before they had even more Alphas after them. He doesn't slow down until, a few blocks down the road, he's finally forced to slacken his pace just so that he can actually breathe for a second. He refuses to completely come to a stop-he has to get Hiro home-but if he ran himself until he passed out then he'd be absolutely no help to the other teen, so he makes himself to go at a more reasonable pace.

It wasn't until his lungs stop burning that he finally realizes that Hiro, who currently had his face buried in his chest, is trembling in his arms.  
"Hiro?" Ezra says softly, feeling something constricting inside of his chest. "Hiro, are you okay?"

Hiro shakes his head slightly, and as much as Ezra wishes he could just stop and hold him until he could find out what was going on, he knows that he can't and so he just keeps going, trying to sound comforting as he whispers, "It's okay, Hiro. You're going to be okay. I've got you. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

Hiro just nods again before finally whispering, "...I-I'm scared, Ez…"

"Hiro, I... I know you're scared." Ezra wraps his arms tighter around the other teen as he walks. He'd never heard Hiro so much as sound frightened in the entire time that he'd known him, let alone admit to feeling that way, and somehow that just made this whole thing that much worse. He wished more than anything that he could wipe away all of the trauma from the cafe that the other teen was probably experiencing right now, but he has nothing but his words to comfort him.

"I'm so, so sorry about what happened. If I'd known that this was going to happen today, I never would have taken you there," Ezra whispers guiltily. "I should have never even taken the chance-"

"I-It wasn't supposed to be this way!" Hiro interrupts, his arms, already wrapped around Ezra's torso, tighten around him, his fists balling into the fabric of the other teens' shirt. "I-I wasn't supposed to be an…" He trails, unable to even finish the sentence.

"I know, Hiro." Ezra's heart aches for his friend, instinctively holding him closer. "I know you never wanted to be an Omega. We were all so sure you were going to be an Alpha… I swear, if I could, I would trade places with you in a heartbeat…"

"Y-You would?" Hiro asks in surprise.

"Of course I would! You're my best friend, I'd do anything for you! Don't you know that?" Ezra responds, the words coming out a bit more passionately than he'd intended.

"Y-Yeah…" Hiro answers after taking a moment to let his words sink in. "I do." He lets out a quiet laugh and Ezra felt relief trickling into his chest-if the other teen was laughing, that was a good sign.

"T-Thank you…" the Hiro says softly, nuzzling into the Alpha's shirt. "You're amazing, you know that, right?"

"Not half as amazing as you," Ezra answers, holding him closer.

Hiro finally lifts his head to smile up at him, and that's when it happens.

Ezra had always known that he'd felt attracted to Hiro-he'd know it from the moment he'd laid eyes on him-but until now he'd done a good job of suppressing those emotions and the urges that came with them. In that moment, though, when he looked down into Hiro's eyes, he suddenly felt every one of those feelings, wanted or not, bubbling up to the surface and spilling over so that there was no way he could ignore them. Everything around him felt so hot, and it was as if someone had just stabbed a hook into his chest, plunging it deep into his heart, and then attached the other end of the line to Hiro, leaving Ezra completely and irrevocably joined to him. Hiro, for his part, was looking up at Ezra with a slightly dazed expression, and while the other teen had no idea what was going on inside his head, he could see that his pupils had dilated until almost all of the brown in his eyes was swallowed by them.

"H-Hiro?" Ezra whispers uncertainly.

"E-Ez…" Hiro breathes, and suddenly Ezra was hit by an overwhelmingly powerful wave of his scent that sent his mind reeling. Oh gosh. Oh gosh.

As many times as Ezra heard about what imprinting felt like, as many times as he'd privately fantasized about what it might be like to experience it with Hiro, there was no way he could have been prepared for this. Desire pooled in his stomach, and his entire body was aching for the Omega he was holding in his arms. Everything in him wanted to just find somewhere safe and alone and show Hiro just how much he wanted him. He wanted to-

NO!

Ezra shakes his head to clear away the dangerous thoughts. He couldn't do that to Hiro! Not here, not now, not with everything the other teen had just been through! Even though it was fighting every instinct in his body, Ezra continues soldiering on down the road, forcing himself to concentrate on the goal of getting his best friend safely home, refusing to look down at the other teen for fear of what he'd do if he did.

By the time they had reached the Cafe Hiro's aunt owned, Ezra's limbs were shaking, both from the exertion of carrying Hiro for as long as he had and from trying to suppress the hormones that were wreaking havoc with his mind and body. He barely manages to stumble in through the door of the restaurant, too exhausted to even try to climb the stairs leading up to the main house that was above the Cafe, and hoarsely calls out for Hiro's aunt before collapsing into a nearby booth.

Only a few moments later, Aunt Cass came hurrying over, looking first shocked by the condition that the two teens are in and then even more so as her nose detects the smell that was clearly coming off of her nephew.

"Oh my goodness!" she gasps. "W-What happened?"

"Hiro presented while we were out," Ezra answers, exhausted but knowing that Hiro wasn't in any condition to speak. "I'm sorry, I got him home as fast as I could…"

Aunt Cass seemed to still be overcoming her own surprise from this unexpected turn of events, but she quickly manages to contain it, at least long enough to say in a still worried but firm voice, "Let's get you both upstairs." She looks towards the kitchen and calls out, "Tadashi? Tadashi! Come over here, please!"

A man with dark hair and brown eyes identical to Hiro's comes out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on his apron, and walks over, looking mildly concerned by his aunt's tone. When his eyes land on the two teens, though, he audibly gasps, something akin to panic showing on his face.

"W-What-? Oh my gosh, Hiro!" He instantly reaches out for the younger teen, and Ezra had to be grateful that Tadashi was an Omega or else in his current state his instinct probably would have been to fight him, even if Tadashi was Hiro's brother and thus not a threat.

Still, even though Ezra was begrudgingly willing to let the other teen go so that his family could take care of him, Hiro was obviously not of the same sentiment.

"No!" He squirms away from Tadashi's grasp, moving closer to the teen whose arms he was currently in.

"Hiro, what's gotten into you?" Tadashi asks, looking shocked and trying to reach for him again. "I just want to get you upstairs-"

"No!" Hiro whines, latching onto Ezra and refusing to be moved. "I want Ez!"

"It's okay," Ezra sighs, realizing what he had to do and managing to stumble to his feet in spite of how exhausted he was. "I'll carry him up."

It was almost worth the effort to see Hiro smiling so adoringly up at him as he carries him, and it almost sent Ezra's heart racing right out of his chest. He knew that this was just the hormones making Hiro act like this-that once the initial rush of imprinting had died down some he'd be back to normal, or at least mostly normal. All the same, as Ezra makes his way up the stairs to the main house, Aunt Cass and Tadashi watching the pair in stunned silence, he couldn't resist leaning down to gently kiss Hiro's forehead, and he was rewarded with a soft mew that sent tiny thrills of happiness running through him.

Once they were upstairs, Ezra starts to gently lay Hiro down on the couch, but the other teen was stubbornly holding onto him and so he finally decides to stop trying to fight it and just sits down with Hiro still in his arms, feeling relieved that they were finally somewhere relatively safe. His eyes want to slide shut, but he couldn't fall asleep yet-not until he knew for sure that Hiro was okay. Hiro, for his part, was contentedly curled up against him and nuzzling into his chest. It wasn't until the other teen murmurs, "You smell so good…" that Ezra realized that he was apparently trying to get as much of his scent as possible.

"You do too," Ezra answers, unable to keep from smiling slightly as he dares to try stroking Hiro's hair-and oh, it was as heavenly as he'd always imagined it would be. He's rewarded with another happy sound that encourages him to keep going, and he feels a soft vibration running through Hiro's body as if he was-wait, was he actually purring? Frankly Ezra was too tired to try to figure it out, and, in spite of himself, he finds his eyelids sliding shut. He was battling to try to force them back open when Hiro whispers softly in his ear, "It's okay. You can sleep. You've done so much for me already..."

Ezra manages to stay awake just long enough to feel Hiro's lips softly pressing against his before he finally loses the battle and drifts off into peaceful oblivion.

When Ezra wakes up later that afternoon, it takes him a minute to remember where he is and what he's doing there. He shivers slightly at the feeling of the cold air conditioning blowing down on him-what had happened to his sweatshirt?-and he slowly sits up, trying to make sense of his surroundings as he dazedly stares around at what looked like a living room but definitely wasn't the one in his own home.

What finally brings everything rushing back is spotting Aunt Cass in the kitchen, and suddenly he's very much aware of where he is and what had happened that afternoon. He feels warmth rushing to his cheeks as he sits up rigidly on the couch-how much did Aunt Cass and Tadashi know of what had happened, and what were they going to think of him if they knew that he'd imprinted on their sweet little Hiro? Even if he was an Alpha while they were a Beta and Omega respectively, he still had no doubt that they could easily take him if they wanted to. Still, the fact that they hadn't tried to do anything to him in his sleep was something-or maybe they just had too much honor to try to fight him while he was down.

He was just debating trying to make a break for the door when suddenly Aunt Cass turns around and spots him, a small smile flitting across her face as she says, "Oh, good, you're finally awake!"

Well, that didn't sound like she was planning to try to kill him. Still, Ezra couldn't help but feel a bit worried as he answers awkwardly, "H-Hey... " Then, realizing that he has more than just himself to be concerned about right now, he asks tentatively, "I-Is Hiro okay?"

"He's fine," Aunt Cass gently reassures him, coming over and, to Ezra's great surprise, pressing a mug of tea into his hands before asking, "How are you feeling?"

"I-I'm all right," Ezra answers, looking down at the mug and trying to decide if this was all an act and maybe she was trying to poison him.

"I'm glad you're awake so I can finally thank you," Aunt Cass says softly as he finally decides to dare to take a sip.

"W-What?" Ezra almost spits out his tea but manages to swallow it down before looking over at her in surprise. "Thank me?"

"Hiro told us about how you got him home safely after what happened," Aunt Cass answers with a warm smile. "I know it couldn't have been easy for you, but the fact that you kept him safe and you treated him like a gentleman in spite of what your hormones were probably telling you-well, Tadashi and I are both grateful to you for protecting him."

"Y-You're welcome," Ezra answers, flushing slightly, before daring to ask, "Where is Hiro now?"

"He's up in his room," Aunt Cass replies, oddly enough looking mildly amused by his question. "Tadashi managed to get him into the bath so you don't have to worry-his smell shouldn't be as overpowering for you. As surprised as we are about him being an Omega, it does help that Tadashi's one too so we already know what to expect."

"That's good," Ezra agrees, part of him sad to hear that Hiro's scent was reduced, but his more logical side telling him that it would make it easier for him to think clearly around him.

"Go on and head up there," Aunt Cass says with a smile, taking his now empty mug from him. "I know Hiro's probably dying to see you-it's not every day that you find your mate, after all!"

"You know about that?" Ezra finds himself blushing again.

"It was pretty hard to miss, sweetie." Aunt Cass pats him sympathetically on the shoulder. "But don't worry. I'm not upset-if anything, I'm glad that Hiro has someone who cares about him as much as you do."

"And Tadashi...?" Ezra asks, wincing as he anticipates her response.

"He's… Understandably feeling a bit protective of Hiro at the moment," Aunt Cass answers carefully. "But I think he'll warm up to the idea soon enough. He feels he has a debt of gratitude to you for protecting Hiro, so that will hopefully work in your favor."

"Good to know…" Ezra flashes her a small smile before getting up from the couch and heading towards the stairs. He takes a deep breath at the bottom, preparing himself for whatever he'd encounter at the top, before starting the climb.

As he'd half expected, Tadashi was waiting for him as soon as he comes in the door. The older man's arms were crossed over his chest, and he didn't look entirely happy to see Ezra, but he nods begrudgingly to him before gesturing in the direction of the open closet and saying, "He's in there."

Ezra was a bit surprised by this-what on Earth was Hiro doing in the closet?-but he couldn't bring himself to ask any questions with the way that Tadashi was half-glaring at him and so he just mumbles out a quiet, "Thanks" before heading over to investigate.

Inside the closet, he finds Hiro, surrounded by what at first looked almost like a pillow fort but after a moment Ezra realizes was probably what he'd heard called a "den". Hiro was curled up in middle of it, holding what the other teen recognizes as his missing sweatshirt, and for a moment he appeared to be completely dead to the world. But almost as soon as Ezra reaches the doorframe, he blinks his eyes open and sits up, smiling sleepily up at him as softly murmuring, "Hey…"

"Hey yourself," Ezra answers with a slight smile, unable to resist smiling at how adorable the Omega looked.

Hiro yawns widely, almost reminding the other teen of a tired kitten, before patting the empty space next to him. Taking that as his invitation to join him, Ezra carefully climbs in, settling himself onto the floor next to the other teen but leaving a bit of space between them in case Hiro didn't want him too close. Within moments, though, Hiro was crawling up into his lap and nuzzling up against him, and Ezra instinctively wraps his arms around him. When the Alpha glances up, he notices that Tadashi was sitting on the edge of Hiro's bed, looking very much like a protective mama bear, and Ezra could understand why he would feel that he couldn't leave the him alone with Hiro. Still, for the most part the Alpha's hormones were back under control, and he had absolutely no intention of doing anything that Tadashi would need to be worried about.

"How are you feeling?" he asks, turning his attention back to the teen in his arms.

"Okay…" Hiro answers, drowsily smiling up at him. "Tired."

"It's been a big day for you," Ezra answers sympathetically.

"Mm…" Hiro agrees, his eyes sliding shut, and for a moment Ezra assumes he's going back to sleep. But then they flutter back open and he says softly, "Hey, Ez?"

"Yeah?" Ezra answers, unable to resist gently playing with the other teen's hair.

Hiro didn't seem to mind but appears to be struggling with finding the right words to say until finally he manages to get out, "Thank you… For everything…"

"Hey, you're my best friend," Ezra tells him firmly. "There was no way I was going to let anyone hurt you!"

"Y-Yeah…" Hiro seems to be having a hard time meeting his eyes before finally saying softly, "I guess we're not just friends anymore, are we?"

"No, I guess not," Ezra agrees, feeling a bit concerned by how the other teen was acting and quickly adding, "But, Hiro, I don't want you to feel pressured to do anything you don't want to do, okay? Just because this… happened, it doesn't mean anything has to change if you don't want it to. We might have imprinted on each other, but you'll always be my best friend first, and I never want to hurt you by doing something that you're not okay with."

"Yeah?" Hiro smiles tentatively up at him.

"Definitely," Ezra reassures him, wanting to kiss his forehead but resisting the impulse-he didn't want to do anything like that until he knew what Hiro was and wasn't comfortable with. "You're my Hiro, and you mean more than anything in the world to me."

"Thank you…" Hiro nuzzles gratefully up against him before saying softly, "I-I think I might want to try… Some of the stuff that comes with being mates? But I need to take it really slow while I'm trying to figure this out… Is that okay with you?"

"That is more than okay!" Ezra reassures him, thrilled that he was willing to consider any of this at all.

Hiro beams at him before shyly reaching up and stroking his cheek with his hand. "If I have to be an Omega," he whispers, "I'm really glad that it means I get to be with you."

"Yeah?" Ezra grins down at him, feeling his heart fluttering in his chest.

"Yeah." Hiro nuzzles against him again. "I was honestly always scared of having to find a mate if I was an Alpha, but now I just get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend."

"That's exactly how I feel," Ezra answers.

"Really?" Hiro asks.

"Really," Ezra reassures him.

Hiro smiles drowsily up at him in response before yawning again and settling more comfortably in his arms.

"You just get some sleep now, okay love?" Ezra says gently, starting to stroke his hair.

"'Kay," Hiro agrees, looking completely contented as his eyelids drift closed. And as Ezra gently rocks him in his arms, he realizes that he can't wait to see what the future held for them.


	2. Chapter 2

As much as Ezra could have just stayed there for the rest of the day, contentedly cuddling his newfound mate, eventually time constraints and familial responsibilities start pressing in on him, reminding him that he had a mandatory family dinner that he was supposed to attend that night. He held out for as long as he could, not wanting to leave Hiro, but when his adopted sister, Sabine, starts blowing up his phone with reminders from their parents that he needed to be home within the hour, he knows that he has to go.

"Hiro?" he whispers, gently shaking his mate's shoulder. "Hiro, can you wake up for me?"

"Mm?" Hiro, who had pretty much stayed in an either passed out or semi-passed out state for most of the afternoon (presenting took a pretty large toll on the body, and combined with the trauma that had come with his, Ezra had thought it best to just let him sleep as much as he wanted to), blinks his eyes open, smiling as he looks up at him. "Hey…"

"Hey," Ezra answers, gently kissing his forehead (Hiro had seemed fairly receptive to light kissing, which the Alpha was extremely happy about) before saying softly, "I have to go."

"What?" Within moments, Hiro was wide awake, clinging to Ezra's arm. "Go? Go where? You can't go!"

"Hiro, I know this isn't easy for you." Ezra pulls him close. "It's not easy for me either. But I have to go home-my family's expecting me."

Hiro lets out a quiet whine, giving him his best puppy eyes. "Stay…" he quietly begs.

"I want to stay-so much." Ezra hugs him tighter. "But I really, really have to go. I promise, I'll come back to see you as soon as I can, and I'll text you tonight as much as I'm able to."

Hiro still didn't look happy about it, but he allows Ezra to gently unlatch his fingers from his arm. Still, when the other teen is finally free, the Omega curls up on the floor and tries to look as pathetic as possible, doing his best to make one last argument for him to stay. It almost worked, but another text from Sabine reminding him of what she'd do to him if he was late made Ezra sigh and climb out of the closet, knowing that he had to go or else risk incurring her wrath.

"Wait!"

Ezra knew he shouldn't turn around because if he did Hiro would probably find some way of convincing him to stay, but when he felt a hand wrapping around his arm he can't resist and he looks back to make sure that his mate was okay.

Hiro seemed fine, but he had pulled off his hoodie for some reason and was holding it out to Ezra.

"What's this for?" Ezra asks, gently taking it from him.

"Well, I kind of took yours," Hiro answers, flushing slightly. "So I figured you should have mine…"

"You don't have to-!" Ezra starts to protest.

"Ez, I want you to have it." Hiro was being adamant for reasons the other teen couldn't fathom until he finally says, looking slightly embarrassed, "I took your hoodie 'cause it has your scent on it… So I figured maybe you'd want something with my scent on it?"

"Oh!" Ezra finally understands and, smiling slightly, he accepts the gift and puts it on-it was a bit small for him, but it did have Hiro's scent, and that was all that mattered.

"Thank you." Ezra gently leans in and pecks his mate's cheek.

"You're welcome." Hiro smiles happily back at him.

"I'll talk to you tonight, okay?" Ezra tells him, squeezing his hands one last time.

"Okay," Hiro agrees, squeezing back before finally letting him go.

Ezra had to take a streetcar home from the Cafe since his whole family was already at the house and he didn't want to make any of them leave just to pick him up. He didn't really mind having to take public transit-if anything, he was sort of glad because it gave him more time to think about what he was going to say to his family. Even if he ditched the hoodie (which there was no way he was going to do), he was still going to have Hiro's scent all over him, and there was no way that anyone in his family was going to be able to miss it. In some ways it was frustrating-he wasn't sure he was quite ready for his whole family to know that he and Hiro had imprinted when the two of them were still trying to figure things out. On the other hand, it did save him the awkwardness of having to figure out how to broach the subject with them, so he guessed the pros and cons balanced each other out. By the time that he reached his stop, he had pretty much made his peace with what was coming and was ready to walk into the house with his head held high.

It wasn't that he was really that worried about how his family would react-Sabine, as another Alpha, might be a little jealous because he'd imprinted before her, but for the most part she'd probably be supportive, even if she would tease him endlessly about it. His adopted parents, Hera and Kanan, were both Betas and really didn't care about the whole Alpha/Omega/Beta mating system, so he knew that they'd be happy for him as long as they knew that he was happy. And his Uncle Zeb (also an Alpha like himself and Sabine) would probably be extremely proud of him for finding someone. All of them loved Hiro-they'd practically adopted him on as a part of their family as it was-so Ezra couldn't see any of them having any problem with him being his mate. All in all, Ezra was feeling pretty good about letting everyone know the truth as he lets himself into the house.

About thirty seconds after he'd gotten inside, he found himself being pounced on by Sabine-literally, as she had leaped off of the stairs and knocked him to the ground, pinning him to the floor. He was glad that she'd at least waited until he was in a carpeted area of the house so it didn't hurt too much when he went down-she wasn't always so merciful when it came to play-wrestling.

"Sabine, get off!" Ezra groans, not really in the mood for this with everything that had happened so far today.

"What, no 'Hello' for your big sis?" Sabine answers with a playful grin.

"Ugh…" Ezra just lets his head fall back against the carpet, too tired to try to fight her off.

"Hey, what's gotten into you?" Sabine asks, playfully prodding his cheek. "You never turn down a fight! You going soft on me?"

"Please just stop…" Ezra sighs, trying to not let himself get provoked-right now with the way his hormones were still a bit unsettled, he didn't know how he'd react if he actually got into a fight with her.

"You sick or something?" Sabine was actually starting to act a little concerned as she sits back, looking him over critically. "You actually smell kind of off-it's almost like you smell like Ome... Wait. Wait A MINUTE." Suddenly her eyes go wide and she leans back in, sniffing at Ezra's neck even as he tries to push her away.

"Sabine!" he complains, but it was obvious his sister had already discovered the truth.

"Oh my gosh. OH. MY. GOSH!" she cries as she finally pulls back, a huge grin crossing her face. "EZRA! Did you-?!"

"No clue what you're talking about," Ezra answers innocently, although he couldn't keep the creeping smile off of his own face.

Moments later, Sabine was leaping off of him and racing towards the kitchen, calling out, "Mom! Dad! Uncle Zeb! Ezra found a mate!"

Well, that was one way for everyone to find out, Ezra thinks wryly as he picks himself up off the ground, making his way towards the kitchen so that he could answer the questions that everyone probably had before Sabine could start inventing things in his absence.

When he walks into the kitchen, all eyes were on him, and he finds himself flushing slightly, partly embarrassed by all of the attention being focused on his person, partly proud for his family to be seeing him for the first time as newly imprinted.

"Ezra, is it true?" his adopted mom, Hera, finally manages to get out, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Ezra answers, rubbing the back of his neck and smiling slightly. "It's true."

"Well, congratulations, little 'un!" Uncle Zeb, who was currently sitting at the table with Kanan, gets up and comes over to pull him into a playful bear hug. "I knew you had it in you!"

"Thanks!" Ezra laughs, hugging him back.

"Okay, so what's her name-or his name?" Sabine asks when Zeb finally lets him go.

"Well…" Ezra holds the suspense out for just a moment longer before finally announcing proudly, "It's Hiro."

"Wait-Hiro? As in Hiro Hamada?" Kanan asks, seeming as surprised as everyone else in the room.

"Yep!" Ezra agrees, beaming.

"I thought you said you were sure he was going to be an Alpha!" Sabine says, frowning in confusion.

"We both were," Ezra answers, shrugging slightly. "But he presented as Omega today, so I guess everything worked out!"

"He just presented today?" Hera repeats. "And you two already-?"

"We didn't mean for it to happen, but… Yeah. It just sort of… Happened," Ezra tells her, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Well I say good on ya!" Zeb says firmly, coming to his defense. "If you two are happy together, that's all that counts!"

"Right!" Ezra agrees, smiling gratefully at him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like I didn't approve," Hera apologizes. "I'm a little surprised it happened so quickly, but as long as both of you are okay with it-"

"Well I definitely know Ezra is!" Sabine puts in playfully. "He's been crushing on Hiro for ages!"

Usually Ezra would have tried to argue with that, but given he and Hiro were officially mates now it wasn't like he had to hide it so he just shrugs and smiles in response.

"How's Hiro doing with all of this?" Kanan asks. "I know being an Omega must have come as a surprise to him."

"It did," Ezra admits. "But I think hopefully he's doing pretty okay with it now. He was-kind of out of it when I left. He pretty much just slept through most of the afternoon after I got him home-he sort of holed up in his den and I stayed with him until I had to come here."

"You were in his den?" Sabine grins at him. "Wow, so things really got interesting-"

"It wasn't like that!" Ezra growls, feeling his face flushing even brighter red. "I was just trying to make sure he was okay!"

"And I'm sure Hiro appreciated that," Hera puts in gently, sending Sabine a warning look.

"It's good that you're taking such good care of him," Kanan adds. "I'm sure he knows how lucky he is to have you."

"T-Thanks…" Ezra answers with a small smile. "I felt kind of bad about leaving him-I don't think he wanted me to go, but I knew I had to get back here…"

"Ezra, if you'd texted and told us what was going on you know we wouldn't have minded you staying there!" Hera tells him.

"Well, I kind of figured it was something I should tell you guys about in person…" Ezra responds.

"Fair enough." Kanan gives him a sympathetic smile. "Still, if you need to head back over there tonight-"

"No, I think it's probably a good idea to give Hiro some breathing room right now," Ezra says honestly. "The hormones were making him act… well, not exactly like himself. So I think maybe I should give him a chance to calm down away from me so that he can think through everything clearly, y'know?"

"That very admirable of you." Kanan smiles approvingly at him. "Hiro's very lucky to have such an amazing young man as his mate."

"Thanks…" Ezra can't help but blush again at the praise-it was nice hearing from his family that they thought he was doing a good job, even if they might be a little prejudiced in his favor.

Hera looked like she was about to say something when suddenly there's the sound of someone knocking on the door, and everyone turns in the direction of the noise.

"Who could that be?" Hera asks, frowning slightly.

"Ah, about that…" Zeb rubs the back of his neck. "Speaking of mates… I hope you don't mind, but I sort of invited someone else to dinner tonight…"

"Wait, what?" Sabine gasps.

"Zeb, you never told us that you found a mate!" Kanan looked as shocked as the rest of them were feeling.

"Well, he's not officially my mate yet…" Zeb answers, possibly for the first time in Ezra's entire history of knowing him actually looking embarrassed. "But… I've been seeing him for a little while now and we think there's a very good chance of us being mate compatible."

"Zeb, that's wonderful!" Hera beams at him.

"Bring him in, we all want to meet him!" Kanan adds as they hear knocking on the door again.

"All right," Zeb agrees, smiling a bit nervously as he goes to answer the door.

"Do you think it's a Beta?" Sabine whispers curiously to Ezra. "I've never smelled Omega on him."

"Maybe…" Ezra answers with a slight shrug-Beta's didn't have as strong a scent as Omegas so it's possible that's why they'd never picked up on an unfamiliar scent on him before.

The two teens watch the door curiously, eager to find out anything they could about their uncle's potential mate. They heard him talking in a low voice to someone, and they could see flashes of the newcomer around Zeb's large frame, but it wasn't until he actually stepped back to let the other man in that they got their first good look at him. He was tall-not as tall as Zeb, but then it was rare to find anyone near as tall as their uncle-with neatly kept golden hair and sideburns. He was dressed in business casual, looking as if he was someone who spent a reasonable amount of time taking care of his personal appearance, a stark contrast to Zeb who usually just rolled out of bed and started the day with whatever he was wearing. But it wasn't until the newcomer was halfway down the hallway that the most important and possibly most shocking thing about him was revealed as Sabine and Ezra catch the first whiff of his scent.

"Alpha?" Sabine whispers, looking over at her brother in surprise.

Ezra just shrugs in response-he was as shocked as she was, but he couldn't help but feel a little bit excited. As glad as he was that things had worked out for him and Hiro like they had, he still liked the idea that it was possible for two Alphas to be together. It made him feel as though, even if Hiro had actually turned out to be an Alpha, maybe there was some way that they could have worked. And if Uncle Zeb wanted to date another Alpha, he was going to be in complete and total support of that.

"Everyone, this is Kallus," Zeb says as he gently ushers the other male into the kitchen. "Kallus, these are my very good friends, Hera and Kanan, and these are their kiddos, Ezra and Sabine."

"Hello." Kallus waves, looking a bit nervous but still managing for the most part to keep his composure. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you-Zeb's told me so much about you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well," Kanan answers, smiling as he gets up and goes over to shake the other man's hand. If it at all bothered him that both Zeb and Kallus were Alphas, he showed absolutely no sign of it, and neither did Hera when she joined them as well.

"We're very happy to have you here," she says warmly before gesturing to the table. "Won't you sit down? We're just about to have dinner, and you're than welcome to join us!"

"Thank you very much, that's very kind of you," Kallus answers, giving her a grateful smile as he allows Zeb to lead him over to an empty chair.

"Hi!" Ezra says once he's given him a chance to get situated, very curious to learn more about his uncle's boyfriend.

"Hello," Kalls answers, looking him over quickly. "You're... Ezra, correct?"

"Yep!" Ezra agrees cheerfully.

"You'll have to forgive him if he acts a bit oddly tonight," Zeb tells Kallus playfully. "He just imprinted with his mate today, so his head's probably still up in the clouds right now."

"Hey!" Ezra protests, glaring at his uncle but not feeling too angry.

"Well, congratulations!" Kallus smiles warmly at the teen. "Have you know your mate long?"

"We've been best friends since we were kids," Ezra answers with a shy smile. "I just never thought it would work out because I thought we would both be Al-" Realizing that he was about to majorly put his foot in his mouth, he quickly cuts himself off, but he knew that Kallus probably already knew what he had been about to say.

"And I kept telling you not to worry about it," Zeb puts in firmly, coming to his rescue. "Even if Hiro had presented as an Alpha, there's no reason you two couldn't have been mates."

"Yeah," Ezra agrees, grinning gratefully over at him. "We could have made it work."

"Of course you could have!" Zeb tells him, grinning as he reaches over to gently take Kallus' hand in his own. "Status shouldn't affect who you can or can't be with! You should be with whoever makes you happiest."

"I quite agree with your Uncle," Kallus says, smiling as he gently squeezes Zeb's hand.

Ezra beams as he watches them, knowing that they were right. No matter how things had turned out, he knew that he loved Hiro, and somehow, some way, he would have found a way to be with him, even if they'd both presented in a way that made society say that they weren't supposed to be compatible. And knowing that made him feel that much better about having Hiro as his mate. No matter what, they were meant to be together, and that was a truly amazing feeling.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, as soon as Ezra was pretty sure that it was a reasonable hour for Hiro to be awake, he sends a text to the other teen, asking if he could come over. He hadn't been able to text him as much as he'd wanted the night before between spending time with his family and Hiro saying that he was busy with Tadashi (who was apparently "explaining" being an Omega to him, whatever that meant), so at this point he was desperate to see or even just hear him again. Of course he was always eager to see his best friend, but now it was like he had this burning need in his chest to be at Hiro's side after being apart from him even for this short amount of time.

It took longer than he expected to get an answer, although initially he chalked that up to Hiro probably still being asleep. When he ended up getting a text from Tadashi, though, asking him to come over and "talk some reason" into Hiro, he started to feel a bit worried. What was going on? He didn't want to get his family involved in this when it seemed like a personal issue, so instead of asking for a ride he ended up taking the streetcar again to get to the Hamadas', becoming increasingly concerned with every passing minute about what was happening with his mate.

Almost as soon he knocks on the door, Tadashi opens it, looking decidedly disheveled and frustrated.

"Thank goodness you're here!" he sighs. "Maybe you can get Hiro to calm down-he's completely flipped."

"What happened to him?" Ezra asks, feeling his protective instincts rising to the top.

"It started last night after you left," Tadashi answers, running a hand through his already unkempt hair. "Hiro was pining after you like crazy, so to get his mind off of things I thought I'd sit down and explain being an Omega to him-he's been preparing his whole life for being an Alpha, but since he's turned out to be an Omega, there's some important stuff that he needs to know about, like using heat suppressants and some of the things his hormones might end up doing to him. I don't know what exactly caused it, but he started getting really agitated, and when I tried asking him what was wrong, he just started lashing out at me. I had to spend the night on the couch because he won't even let me in our room! I thought he'd have calmed down by this morning, but he hasn't and I am at my wit's end."

Part of Ezra wanted to be mad at Tadashi for somehow upsetting Hiro, but it didn't sound like the older man had actually done anything wrong so he pushes those instincts away-it wasn't going to help anyone if he got heated up over something without a good reason, and they already had one emotionally unstable teen in the house, which was more than enough.

"Do you think he'll actually listen to me?" he asks.

"I don't know-I hope so," Tadashi answers, shaking his head. "If he doesn't, I don't know what we're going to do."

"I'll go up there and see what I can do," Ezra tells him, feeling a bit of pity for the other man when he sees the dark circles under his eyes, a clear sign that he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.

"Thank you." Tadashi gives him a grateful smile before collapsing onto the couch, obviously too exhausted to do anything more.

Ezra couldn't help but feel a bit of trepidation as he starts his way up the stairs leading to the brothers' room, not sure what he would find. But his concern for Hiro overpowered his misgivings, and he presses on until he reaches the top.

The door was open, but he didn't want to just barge in when Hiro already wasn't in a good mood and so he pauses at the door frame, gently knocking on it and calling, "Hiro? You in here?"

He hears the other teen's voice before he actually sees him-a low, defensive growl that sounded very unlike the sweet Hiro that he knew. It seemed to be coming from the closet-apparently Hiro hadn't moved out of there since last night, although Ezra noticed with a slight start that his sweatshirt, the one Hiro had been clinging to so much yesterday, was on the floor just outside the entrance, looking like it had been roughly tossed out. Ezra was just trying to figure out what exactly that meant when he finally sees the other teen climbing out of the den.

For a moment he's relieved-at least Hiro was coming out to talk to him! But when he sees the dark, almost angry scowl on the other teen's face, he knows that something is definitely wrong.

"Hiro?" Ezra says softly, worry coiling like a tightly wound spring in his chest-he'd never seen the other teen like this before. "Is everything okay?"

Hiro all but snarls at him, but instead of backing away, he keeps coming until he was right in front of the other teen and then drops to his knees, his head bowed.

"H-Hiro? What are you doing?" Ezra asks, instantly kneeling down to his level-what was going on? He reaches out to put his hand on the other teen's shoulder, but Hiro snaps at it, making him quickly withdraw it.

"Hiro, tell me what's going on," he quietly begs.

"Is that an order?" Hiro growls, his dark eyes flashing dangerously as he finally looks up at the other teen.

"What? No, of course not!" Ezra answers, furrowing his brow in confusion. "Why would you think-?"

"Because that's all I'm good for, isn't it?" Hiro snaps. "I'm an Omega, so all I'm supposed to do is obey you and go along with whatever you want because you're my Alpha, right?"

"Hiro, what are you saying? Of course that's not true!" Ezra gasps.

"It's what you want, though, right?" Hiro snarls. "It's so easy for you, all you have to do is turn on the pheromones and you can make me do whatever you want!"

"Hiro, I would _never_ do that!" Ezra cries, starting to feel a bit defensive. Where was all of this coming from? "When have I ever shown any sign of trying to take advantage of you?"

"You certainly didn't seem to mind letting me make an idiot of myself yesterday!" Hiro answers hotly.

"...I never once made you do something you didn't want to do," Ezra answers, anger roiling in his stomach at the accusation but his tone having gone almost eerily calm. "I did my best to protect you when you were in danger, but as soon as I got you here I tried to give you space to sort things out. You were the one who chose to cling to me, and you were the one who invited me into your den. I knew you were acting under the influence of hormones so I didn't come back over last night because I knew you needed to be able to clear your head away from me. If you decided while I was gone that you don't want to be mated to me well, then, that's your decision, and I'm not going to force you to stick to something you don't want. I can leave right now, and you never have to see me again if you don't want to. But no matter what you choose, don't you _dare_ try to say that any of this was my fault."

Hiro was silent for a full minute, and then he finally whispers, "I hate you."

Ezra felt his heart shattering into a million pieces, but somehow he manages to hold it together long enough to answer, "Well I'm sorry to hear that, because I'm totally and completely in love with you." Then he gets to his feet and heads towards the door, doing his best not to lose it before he could get outside where Hiro couldn't see him cry.

He almost didn't stop when he hears the other teen calling out his name, but then he feels a pair of arms-Hiro's arms-wrapping around him and holding him there on the stairs, and a soft voice breathes in his ear, "E-Ez? D-Did you just say-?"

"Yeah," Ezra answers, refusing to turn around and make eye contact. "I love you, okay? But that doesn't matter since you apparently hate me."

Within moments, Hiro had moved in front of him, keeping him from going farther down the stairs. The other teen didn't know what he was planning to do next, but he definitely didn't expect Hiro to bury his face into his chest and start crying, whispering brokenly, "Ez, I'm so sorry…"

Ezra had no idea how to respond-Hiro had been acting like a major jerk only a few seconds ago, and he definitely wasn't about to just let that pass. But the other teen sounded like he was honestly trying to apologize now, and finally Ezra decides that he was willing to at least hear him out. Instinctively he wraps his arms around Hiro, wanting to comfort him in spite of everything that had just happened and the fact that he was still pretty angry at him. The Omega hugs him tightly back, and he doesn't let go until finally the majority of his tears had abated.

"Let's… try that again, huh?" Ezra finally says when he looks down and sees the expression on the other's face-half apologetic, half frightened for some reason that the Alpha could only guess at. What Hiro had said still stung like crazy, but he was going to try to be the bigger person here and at least try to work this out.

"Y-Yeah," Hiro answers, offering him the very smallest of nods.

"Okay then." Ezra guides him back up into the bedroom, but instead of taking Hiro back to his den, he leads him over to the bed-it was a much less hormonally and emotionally charged place for both of them and hopefully it would be a good place for them to talk.

"Let's start from the beginning," Ezra says once they've both climbed up on top of it, sitting facing each other-he could tell that the Omega was trying to repentantly cuddle with him again, but he makes sure to keep some space between them. They both needed to keep clear heads or else they'd be back at square one. "Can you tell me why you're so upset?"

Hiro shifts uncomfortably, not quite meeting his eyes.

"Hiro, c'mon," Ezra gently prompts, feeling his desire to care for his mate starting to win out over the anger he was still feeling. "If you don't tell me what's wrong, I can't help you or try to make things right. You've got to talk to me or I won't know what you need me to do."

Hiro sits in silence, not even making a move to respond, for so long that Ezra was about to give up on him actually telling him what was upsetting him so much. But then finally the other teen shifts slightly and he hears him whisper, "I'm scared, Ez. Like, really, really freaking scared. A-And I know I shouldn't have snapped at you. I said some awful things you'll probably never forgive me for. I just… I'm so freaked out and you being here just made it that much worse…"

"Hiro, I'm not mad at you," Ezra tells him, the final dregs of his anger ebbing away in spite of himself as he reaches out to gently squeeze the other's hands in his own. "I could never stay mad at you. And it's perfectly okay that you're freaked out-a lot of crazy stuff has happened in the last twenty four hours, and I'm kind of freaking out too! But do you think you can tell me what exactly has you so scared?"

"Everything's changing, isn't it?" Hiro answers after another pause, his voice undeniably shaking. "I-I'm an Omega… After you left, I went online to try to do some research to try to figure out what this is going to be like and I just… I found all this horrible stuff, saying how I'm supposed to be submissive and do whatever my Alpha wants no matter what and all I'm good for is raising children and taking care of the house, and even if I don't want all of that now my hormones are going to make me want it… I-It's like they were telling me I'm going to become a completely different person and I just… Ez, I'm so scared. I-I don't want to stop being me…"

"Oh, Hiro…" Despite the fact that he'd been trying to keep some distance between them for safety, Ezra reaches out for the other teen, unable to stand seeing him sitting there alone looking so undeniably _broken_ , and it shattered the Alpha's heart to see him that way. Hiro didn't fight him, just curling up into his arms and starting to sob again, and Ezra holds him close, gently stroking his hair, rubbing his back, anything he could do to comfort him.

"It's okay, love," he murmurs in his ear. "You're going to be okay."

"H-How can I can I be okay?" Hiro asks wetly, shaking his head. "I hate this. I hate all of it. I don't want this."

"Hiro." Ezra pulls away slightly so he can look him in the eye. "Please tell me you don't honestly believe any of that stuff you read."

"What?" Hiro looks up at him in confusion.

"Hiro, c'mon." Ezra gently strokes his cheek with his thumb. "Do you really think that just because you presented as an Omega it's going to completely change who you are as a person?"

"M-Maybe?" Hiro answers, looking uncertain. "I mean, if that's what everyone is saying…"

"Love, no." Ezra shakes his head firmly. "I'm so, so sorry that you ended up reading all of that garbage, but all of it is complete and total bullshit written by people with extremely backwards ideas and who think everyone should stick to their stupid stereotypical 'rules' for the different classes."

"But what if they're right?" Hiro asks fearfully. "I've been acting so weird since yesterday…"

"Okay, admittedly you might experience some small changes when your hormones act up-that's how it is for everyone, and that's completely normal," Ezra answers gently. "But tell me the truth-did I become a completely different person when I presented as Alpha?"

"Well… No…" Hiro answers, seeming to be thinking it over.

"Of course I didn't! And what about Tadashi? Did he turn into a delicate china doll just because he and Fred imprinted?" Ezra presses.

"No, he didn't..." Hiro replies slowly.

"Damn right!" Ezra agrees passionately. "He and Fred can get ridiculously sentimental sometimes, but you know that if anyone so much as looks at you the wrong way on the street he's up in arms, even if they're an Alpha, ready to fight them! Does that sound like typical submissive Omega behavior to you?"

"No," Hiro admits, seeming to brighten slightly. "It's not."

"Exactly!" Ezra declares. "And he chose to be with Fred, a Beta, because he loved him, instead of just submitting to one of the Alphas who were trying to force him into relationship with them. Does that sound like he was letting being an Omega run his life instead of taking charge of his own destiny?"

"No, it doesn't!" Hiro laughs, actually smiling now.

"So see?" Ezra chuckles. "There's no reason for you to feel like you have to change yourself for me or for anyone else. You are my Hiro, and I love you exactly as you are and I never want you to stop being the amazing person I know that you are!"

Hiro beams up at him before wrapping his arms tightly around him and nuzzling into his chest.

"Thank you, Ez," he murmurs. "I don't know what I'd do without you…"

"You'd do just fine even if you didn't have me," Ezra states firmly.

"Yeah, I guess so," Hiro answers before adding, "But I wouldn't want to. You're pretty much the most important person in my life, and even though I don't want to feel like I'm totally dependent on you… I really, really appreciate everything you're doing for me. And, as crazy as all this presenting and imprinting stuff has been… If I had to go through it with anyone, I'm really happy it's you."

"I'm honored you feel that way." Ezra gently cuddles him closer. "Because I feel the exact same way about you."

"Yeah?" Hiro grins up at him.

"Yeah." Ezra gently pecks his forehead, beaming when the other teen seems to melt just the tiniest bit in his arms before shyly leaning up and pecking his cheek in return. They still had a lot of things to figure out about all of this, but he knew that together they could make it through it together.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day was Monday, and though Ezra usually hated going back to school, for once he didn't mind it so badly-actually, he was pretty excited about it. And why was that? Because Hiro was coming to school with him.

Usually during the week Hiro went to SFIT and Ezra went to high school, but there was something of an unspoken rule of society that, the first school or work day after two mates imprinted, both mates were relieved of their responsibilities for the day to spend time bonding. Technically they could do whatever they wanted (within reason), but it had become something of a custom that the mates would spend the day off visiting each other's place of work or education so that they could get to know the important people in their mates' lives. It was also a way for both to not only be able to sort of show off their new mate, but to make sure that everyone in both their social circles very much knew that their mate was taken and for Alphas to assert their dominance over any Alphas who might try to challenge their claim.

Ezra frankly didn't feel too worried about anyone at SFIT trying to challenge his claim on Hiro-most of the Alphas at the university would consider the Omega too young to be a potential mate for them, and if anyone tried to cause trouble Ezra knew that Hiro had a very protective group of friends who would ward off anyone who tried to take advantage of him. Still, Ezra was excited that he'd be finally getting to meet Hiro's college friends-he'd met most of them in passing, but this would be his first official time going to the university and being introduced to everyone. To make it fair, he and Hiro had decided that they'd spend the morning at Ezra's school and then the afternoon at Hiro's. That's why, even though the Alpha usually had to drag himself out of bed in the morning on Mondays, the second his alarm went off he practically vaulted out of bed to get ready for the day.

Since the school bus didn't know to drop by Hiro's house and it was a special occasion, Kanan offered to drive both the teens to school. Ezra had readily agreed-he wasn't going to turn down an opportunity to skip the craziness of the bus, plus it was always really cool when his dad let him ride in the police cruiser. Still, since Kanan was driving, that meant that Ezra had to wait for him to finish breakfast before they could leave, and it felt like he was taking an eternity to do so, even if the clock on the wall showed that they had plenty of time. Pretty much the second his father had finished the last of his coffee, Ezra was all but dragging him towards the door, eager to get the day started.

"You were just with him yesterday," Kana says playfully as he locks the front door behind them. "I don't think he's changed that much since then, so I don't know what your hurry to see him is."

"Da-ad!" Ezr complains, rolling his eyes at the poor attempt at humor.

"I know." Kanan lovingly ruffles his hair. "And I get it kiddo-I do. It's just hard for me to believe that you're already so grown up, imprinting with you mate-seems like only yesterday your mom and I were bringing you home…"

"Dad…" Ezra turns and hugs him. "You know that no matter what happens I'm always going to love you and mom, right?"

"I do," Kanan reassures him, hugging him back before saying, "Now let's go get Hiro and get you two to school, huh?"

"Yeah!" Ezra agrees, grinning as his dad opens the door so that he can climb into the back of the cruiser.

It took about fifteen minutes to get to Hiro's house, even though it felt like longer. Almost as soon as his dad pulls to a stop in the alleyway next to the Cafe, Ezra was tumbling out of the car and racing up the steps that led directly to the apartment above the restaurant. He had to restrain himself from banging on the door and remind himself to just knock normally-maybe he needed to reign in his enthusiasm a little bit so that he didn't accidentally break anything today…

Only a few seconds after he'd knocked, the door flew open and Hiro was there, beaming eagerly at him. "Hey!" he greets the other teen.

"Hey yourself!" Ezra answers, not at all complaining when the Omega wraps his arms around him in a good morning hug. "You ready to go?"

"Think so!" Hiro answers as he lets him go, grabbing his backpack from by the door. "I should have everything I need in here!"

"Not quite!" Aunt Cass calls, hurrying over to them and handing her nephew a package wrapped in a cloth napkin. "Here-I made bentos for both of you today! I figured you could eat them at Ezra's school or the college, wherever you decided to have lunch."

"Wow, thanks Aunt Cass!" Hiro grins at her, accepting the package and gently putting it into his backpack.

"Thank you, Ms. Hamada!" Ezra agrees, wondering how early she'd gotten up just to make them a special lunch.

"I just wanted to make sure you were both eating well today!" Aunt Cass answers, seeming to be radiating with positive energy despite the early hour. "You two have fun, okay?"

"We will!" Hiro reassures her, hugging her goodbye before following the other teen down the stairs.

"Are you as excited as I am?" Ezra asks him with a grin.

"Oh yeah, definitely!" Hiro answers, lightly bumping his forehead against the other's shoulder as they walk. "I mean, high school was kind of hell for me when I was going through it because I was so much younger than everyone and majorly stood out 'cause I was this tiny kid genius no one wanted to be friends with… But hey, at least this time I'm going in with you, I'm the same age as everyone else, and your friends sound like they're really nice!"

"They are," Ezra reassures him, hating that Hiro had had to go through everything that he had when he'd been in high school but hoping that today would help make up for it.

From Hiro's house, it was just a short ten minute drive to the school (which felt way shorter to Ezra now that he had his mate with him) and once they wave goodbye to Kanan they head inside to the front office to get Hiro checked in as a visitor and to fill out the paperwork so that Ezra could leave right after lunch. It was just the tiniest bit awkward having to explain everything to the rather gossipy ladies who ran the front desk, and Ezra feels his cheeks burning when the woman who was filling out the paperwork informed him that they would be letting the school counselor know that he had imprinted so that he could set up an appointment to see him. It was an embarrassing prospect thinking of having to go sit in the counselor's office and talk about his "feelings" or any "new urges" he might be having, but he supposed that it was just something the school made all teens who went through imprinting do-he'd heard a few classmates who had already imprinted talk about having to do it so at least he wasn't the only one. All the same, he was grateful when Hiro finally got his visitor's badge so they could get heading to first period.

The Omega stayed close by him as they make their ways through the hall-obviously he hadn't forgotten his experiences here years ago and didn't feel fully comfortable revisiting this place. Still, Ezra kept an arm firmly wrapped around his waist for support as he guides him through the busy hallways, and something about that seemed to help Hiro stay calm.

Once at the first class of the day, Ezra gets Hiro settled at his desk before going up to the teacher to explain the situation. It was almost more awkward to inform his teacher, who saw him every day, than the office ladies that he barely knew of the fact that he had imprinted and was bringing his mate to see his school. Fortunately the teacher was very understanding about it and didn't ask too many questions, which made the whole situation that much easier. Still, as Ezra returns to his desk and Hiro, he could feel the eyes of his two best friends, Jai and Zare, on him, and almost as soon as he was within range they came hurrying over, obviously intent on getting an explanation.

"Who's this?" Jai asks, gesturing to Hiro.

"You planning to introduce us?" Zare adds, his tone playful but his gaze serious.

"Of course I'm planning to introduce you guys!" Ezra answers, rolling his eyes at them before putting a gentle hand on Hiro's shoulder. "Hiro, these are my best friends, Jai and Zare. Guys, this is Hiro."

"Hiro, as in the famous Hiro you're always going on about?" Zare asks, eyes lighting with interest.

"The one you've apparently been best friends with since preschool?" Jai glances at the newcomer with renewed curiosity.

"Yep," Ezra chuckles before looking down at the younger teen and adding fondly, "But… He's not just my best friend anymore. He's... kind of my mate."

Jai and Zare just stare at him in stunned silence for a full minute, but then the moment is broken by a wide grin spreading across Jai's face.

"Oh my gosh, I _knew_ it! I knew it was going to happen!" he laughs, sounding oddly victorious. "Zare, didn't I tell you they were going to end up mates with the way Ezra was always going on about him?"

"Yes, yes you did," Zare sighs, rolling his eyes.

"Wait, what?" Ezra gapes at him.

"Oh c'mon, Ez, you weren't being that subtle!" Jai chuckles. "You never shut up about him, it was obvious that you were head over heels for him!"

"I…" Ezra wanted to argue, but honestly he couldn't find a solid argument against that and so finally he just sighs and shakes his head before saying, "In the future if you want to make speculations about my personal life, I'd appreciate it if you'd come to me with them instead of talking about them behind my back."

"I wasn't doing it behind your back!" Jai answers innocently. "I just knew you'd clam up if I tried to talk to you about it and I needed _someone_ to share my observations with!"

Again Ezra was left without a good argument to the contrary, and fortunately he was saved from having to try to find one by the teacher calling the class to order.

"It was nice meeting you, Hiro," Zare says politely before he and Jai head back to their desks.

"Yeah, you too," Hiro answers, waving shyly back.

"You doing okay?" Ezra asks softly as he takes the empty desk next to the one his mate was currently at.

"Yeah," Hiro reassures him with a warm smile. "I'm fine." Then he adds in a playful whisper, "I'm with you, how can I not be?"

Ezra can't answer because just then the teacher begins the lesson, but he feels a happy glow inside that lasts all the way through the rest of the morning.

At lunchtime, Ezra takes Hiro to the table where he and his friends usually sat. Since Aunt Cass had already made their lunches, they didn't have to go through the lunch line and so they make sure to stake out seats for the others until they arrive.

"You guys are so lucky," Jai groans when he and Zare reach the table with their trays, jealousy eyeing the bentos that the couple had. "You don't have to eat this slop the rest of us have to endure on a daily basis…"

"It looks as bad as I remember it," Hiro notes, wrinkling his nose up at what was supposed to be some kind of meatloaf but looked more like a greyish brick. "There's a reason Dashi started making his and my lunches while we were here. He didn't trust the school cafeteria food farther than he could throw it-which, as you can probably guess by the fact that most of it has the consistency of cement, wasn't far."

"You're so lucky you had a brother who took pity on you like that," Jai sighs.

"Does cooking run in your family?" Zare asks curiously. "I know Ezra said that your aunt owns a Cafe."

"Well, she and Dashi are really good in the kitchen," Hiro answers with a slight shrug. "I'm not too bad-like, I can fend for myself in a pinch but I can't make all the fancy pastries and stuff they can."

"Do you think now that you're an Omega you might get better at it?" Jai asks.  
"Uh… I don't know?" Hiro answers, looking uncomfortable. "I mean, I don't see why I'd suddenly get cooking skills just because I presented…?"

"Sorry!" Jai apologizes, realizing from Ezra's glare that he had stepped over a major line. "I didn't mean to-! It's just… I'm still waiting to present, and I'm hoping I might be a Beta-I don't think I'm really Alpha material-but everyone in my extended family keeps telling me they think I'm going to be an Omega since I grew up having to take care of my mom all on my own. And, well, since cooking is something that Omega's are naturally supposed to be good at I'm just trying to find something positive in all of this, like maybe randomly getting some new skills…."

"Jai…" Zare reaches over and puts a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, don't do this to yourself."

"There's no reason you have to change anything about yourself even if you present as Omega!" Ezra adds firmly. "You're still you, no matter what class you end up being."

"Definitely!" Hiro agrees. "Trust me, I was worried about the same thing, but Ezra helped me get past that. I mean, I presented and I'm already imprinted, but I'm still definitely the same person I've always been!"

"Yeah?" Jai asks, looking slightly more hopeful.

"Absolutely," Hiro answers. "And when or if you start looking for a mate, if someone doesn't tell you the same thing, they're not worth your time."

"Definitely," Zare says firmly, gently squeezing Jai's shoulder.

"Thanks…" The other teen smiles almost shyly up at him, and Ezra had to wonder if it was just because he'd recently imprinted and was now imagining things or if there was actually something going on between them. Still, before he can try to figure it out, Jai quickly brings up the topic of a history test they had later that week, and in commiserating about how hard it was going to be he quickly forgot all about it.

As soon as the bell to release lunch rings, Hiro and Ezra says goodbye to the others and then head up to the front office to sign themselves out so they could get heading to SFIT. Hera had already been called that morning to confirm that Ezra had permission to leave after he'd filled out the forms, and apparently she'd given her consent as no one gave them any trouble about leaving.

Once out of the school, together the two took a streetcar across town to the university. Hera could have picked them up, but neither of them had wanted to trouble her and so they had decided that public transit was their best option. As Ezra contentedly settles onto the seat next to Hiro and the tram begins to roll down the street, he asks curiously, "Do your friends know that I'm coming?"

"No," Hiro admits. "I asked Tadashi not to tell them. It's not that I don't want them knowing about you!" he quickly adds. "It's just that-well, telling them I have a mate means having to explain the fact that I've presented, and both of those are things I'd rather tell them about myself rather than having Dashi do it for me, y'know?"

"That makes complete and total sense," Ezra reassures him, gently squeezing his shoulder. "I'm just really excited to officially meet everyone! And maybe just a bit nervous that they won't think I'm good enough for you or something…"  
"Trust me, they're going to love you!" Hiro says firmly. "There's no way that they won't!"

"Well, you might be a little prejudiced, but thanks for the vote of confidence," Ezra chuckles, lightly pecking his forehead.

The rest of their trip is spent in relative silence, the two contentedly cuddling as they make their way through the city-that was one sort of new thing, Hiro seemed to be enjoying physical forms of affection more than he had before (although, to be fair, Ezra had never dared to try this sort of thing before they'd imprinted so maybe Hiro would have been open to it if he'd actually attempted it.) They were actually so caught up in it, in fact, that they almost missed their stop, but Hiro manages to hit the button signaling that they wanted to get off just in time and the streetcar pulls to a stop next to the university.

"Wow…" Ezra breathes after they've climbed off and started making their way through the campus to get to the Ito Ishioka building which contained the lab (lovingly dubbed "the Nerd Lab" by the students) where Hiro and his friends worked and studied. "I know I've been on campus tours before but still, I can never get over how cool this place is!"

"And just think-hopefully next year you'll be coming here with me!" Hiro beams at him, playfully bumping against his side as they walk.

"I know!" Ezra chuckles, lovingly ruffling his hair. "It's going to be awesome being on campus every day so I can see you more! I just wish I had a better idea of what I actually want to study…"

"You've still got plenty of time to figure that out!" Hiro says firmly. "You can just start with the basic prerequisites everyone has to take and see if maybe something catches your interest."

"That sounds fair," Ezra agrees optimistically before frowning and adding, "Although, I mean, since I won't really have anything for the Expo I definitely won't be getting into your lab, I'll just be a regular student…"

"But you can still come spend time with us in the lab anyways!" Hiro reassures him. "I mean, Fred doesn't even actually take classes here-he just audits them-and he's in there all the time because Tadashi lets him in!"

"That… Is very true," Ezra chuckles.

"And I can help you study for your classes since I'll have taken most of them, at least for the first and maybe the second year!" Hiro adds eagerly.

"I'd like that," Ezra tells him, playfully nuzzling against him before adding a bit more seriously, "But we'll have to make sure we actually get some studying done on our study dates instead of concentrating too much on the date part, okay? If I manage to actually get a scholarship of some sort like I need, I'll probably have to keep my grades above a certain level so that I don't lose it."

"You think I'd let my mate even come close to failing a class when I can do something about it?" Hiro answers, looking mildly insulted. "When I'm done with you, you're going to be top of all your classes!"

"I appreciate that," Ezra chuckles, ducking his head slightly. "Just don't be disappointed if I'm not making all A's, okay? I know you tutoring me is going to help a lot, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to still make B's and maybe some C's…"

"Hey, as long as you're doing your best no one can ask anything more from you," Hiro states firmly. "I'm going to be proud of you no matter what grades you make as long as I know you're working hard!"

"Sounds good." Ezra grins and wraps his arm around Hiro's shoulder, and the Omega happily nuzzles against him as they make their way up the stairs leading to the massive Ito Ishioka building.

"You ready for this?" the Alpha asks gently as he reaches to open one of the glass doors, noticing that his mate was starting to look a little bit nervous again.

"As I'll ever be," Hiro answers, smiling wryly up at him.

"Hey-no matter what happens, I'm here for you and we'll get through this together, okay?" Ezra tells him, giving his shoulder an encouraging squeeze.

"Yeah," Hiro agrees, summoning up the most confident smile that he can muster at the moment. And then, together, they push the door open, ready to face whatever the afternoon had in store for them.


	5. Chapter 5

Once inside the building, Hiro and Ezra ride the elevator up to the Nerd Lab, and then they make their way to the door actually leading to the lab. Hiro pulls his access card out of his pocket, but he hesitates before sliding it through the reader.

"You okay?" Ezra asks, noticing his reticence.

"I just… Once I go in, everything's going to change…" Hiro answers quietly. "Everyone's going to know the truth, and there'll be no taking it back… I-I know you keep telling me it's nothing to be ashamed of but I can't help but feel…"

"Hiro, love, it's okay." Ezra wraps his arms around him. "It's okay to be scared. It's okay not to feel totally comfortable with this yet-hell, it's okay if you never feel completely comfortable with this. But remember what I keep telling you-being an Omega does not define you. You are Hiro Hamada who happens to be an Omega, not an Omega who happens to be named Hiro Hamada. And no one and nothing can change that, okay?"

"Yeah," Hiro agrees, smiling gratefully up at him. "You're right. Thanks, Ez… You are seriously the most amazing mate ever."

"Well, thank you, although I'm pretty sure you've already got that title taken," Ezra answers, lovingly tucking a loose strand of hair behind the other's ear.

Hiro blushes and grins shyly up at him before finally taking a deep breath and sliding his card through the reader. Almost instantly the door unlatches and, hand in hand, the two make their way into the Lab together.

The first thing that struck Ezra about the lab was how _busy_ it was-it seemed everywhere there were students running around, talking to each other, working on projects, and testing tech that looked like it had come straight out of a science fiction novel. It takes him almost a full minute to come down from sensory overload, and when he does he looks over at Hiro, who was wrinkling his nose up and looking a bit overwhelmed himself.

"What's wrong?" Ezra asks, although he had some idea of what was going on.

"There's so many smells," Hiro answers, covering his nose with his hand. "Too many people all at once…"

"You were doing pretty okay at my school this morning," Ezra observes, feeling a bit concerned.

"Yeah, that was you school," Hiro replies. "I'd never been there before so I could just imagine it was how the building usually smells. Here, though… I'm here almost every day, and it's never smelled like this before…"

"I know it's overwhelming right now," Ezra tells him sympathetically. "But I promise eventually you get so used to it that it doesn't really even register anymore. It's like- You couldn't smell Tadashi and Aunt Cass until you presented, right?"

"Right…" Hiro agrees slowly.

"But now that you can you've gotten used to having their scents in the house so it's not something you even think about anymore, right?" Ezra gently presses.

"...I didn't even think about that, but yeah, that's true!" Hiro answers, brightening slightly.

"So see? It's not fun now, but it's just going to take some time to get used to all these smells- I promise it shouldn't take too long," Ezra reassures him.

"That's good to hear." Hiro gives him a grateful smile before carefully removing his hand from his nose. "Huh… You're right, it's not so bad now."

"Your nose just has to adjust," Eza says with a warm smile before asking, "Think you're ready to keep going?"

"Yeah, definitely!" Hiro agrees, beaming at him before eagerly tugging on his hand. "C'mon, I have to show you everything!"

"Show away!" Ezra chuckles, more than happy to follow after him.

As Hiro explained it, most of the others had classes right now and so were out of the lab at the moment, but they take advantage of the time that they had before they returned to tour the place in relative peace and quiet. A few people who apparently knew Hiro gave him looks ranging from curiosity to outright shock as they passed, probably from a combination of the fact that it was obvious from Hiro's scent that he'd presented and also because he was showing someone who was very much acting like his mate around the Lab. Still, no one confronted him or tried to engage him on it, which Ezra was grateful for, knowing that Hiro was nervous enough without anyone adding to it.

They'd pretty much made their whole way around the Lab and Hiro was showing Ezra the office that he and Tadashi shared when they heard someone putting their key into the lock in the door. Both turned around to see who was coming in and were relieved to find that it was Tadashi.

"Oh, hey guys!" the older man greets them, smiling when he spots them. "Have you two been having fun on your day off?"

"Definitely!" Hiro reassures him with a grin. "I got to meet Ezra's friends at his school, and they were really nice!"

"And Hiro's been showing me around the Lab which is, to use his word for it, 'sick'," Ezra adds, beaming as the other teen happily nuzzles against him.

"Well, I'm glad you guys are enjoying it," Tadashi chuckles before changing the topic slightly and asking, "Hiro, I know that you want Ezra to meet everyone, but is that something you want to do right now or do you still need some time?"

Hiro seems to think his options over for a moment before finally answering, "I guess now is as good a time as any… Are the others all here?"

"Not everyone," Tadashi answers. "I think they're still walking back from classes. But Fred's here since his classes at SF State are over for the day if you maybe wanted to start out with one person and work your way up to the others?"

"That could be good!" Hiro agrees, seeming to brighten slightly at the idea. Ezra knew that Fred, as Tadashi's mate, was something like family to him and so it made sense that he'd feel more comfortable talking to him than he might talking to the others.

"All right, I'll go get him, then!" Tadashi tells them. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Sounds good," Hiro agrees, nodding and lightly pressing against Ezra's side.  
"You going to be okay?" Ezra questions gently as Tadashi closes the door behind him.

"Yeah," Hiro reassures him. "I will be."

A few minutes later, the door opens again, this time to reveal Tadashi with another man who Ezra was pretty sure was Fred from the brief times their paths had crossed and the pictures he'd seen on Tadashi's side of the room.

"Hey Hiro!" The newcomer smiles as he waves to the teen, only to come to a stop when he noticed the other occupant of the room. "Oh, hi! Tadashi didn't tell me that Hiro had a friend visiting! You're Ezra, right?"

"Right," Ezra agrees, immediately taking a liking to the almost overwhelming aura of friendliness he felt coming off of Fred-it was almost like he was a puppy who expected everyone in the world to automatically be his friend, and he was so cheerful and nice that it was hard not to just go along with it. And it was clear from the expression on Tadashi's face that his mate absolutely adored him.

"It's awesome finally getting to officially meet you!" Fred comes over and starts enthusiastically shaking the Alpha's hand. "Hiro talks about you all the time but he's never brought you by for a visit!"

"Well, today is kind of a special occasion…" Hiro answers, taking Ezra's hand in his own when the other man finally lets go of it.

"Oh?" Fred looks curiously between them, and then down at their joined hands, and after a moment the truth seems to dawn on him. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh, are you two dating now?!"

"Not just dating…" Hiro tells him, shyly smiling over at Ezra.

"Wait, you're not… Oh, no way! No WAY! You two- Are you actually-? But Hiro, you haven't even presented yet- Or wait, did you-?" Fred seemed to be having a hard time actually completing a sentence, and it was hard for Ezra to tell if that was just because he was excited or if it was how he normally talked. Still, the younger teen couldn't help but be curious about the fact that the other man apparently hadn't picked up on Hiro's scent yet and he asks curiously,

"Couldn't you tell that he'd presented from his smell?"

"Well, um, no, actually…" Fred admits with a wry smile before explaining, "I'm kind of blind when it comes to other people's scents."

"..Wait, what?" Ezra stares at him in disbelief.

"Yep," Fred chuckles. "Everyone else starts smelling other's scents when they present, but for some reason I never did. It makes for some interesting situations-like, I literally have no clue what class someone is unless they tell me themselves or someone else tells me. Not that I really care what anyone's class is-I mean, we're all people and we shouldn't treat each other differently just because of something biological we can't control, right?"

"That's… Actually a really awesome perspective on things," Ezra admits with a slight smile, finding that he was liking Fred more and more by the minute.

"It's one of the reasons I fell for him." Tadashi happily nuzzles up against his mate. "When I first presented, I could barely leave the house. Every time I did, I had Alphas coming after me-some a lot more aggressively than others. It was... terrifying, honestly. I almost became a recluse, I was so scared to leave home. But fortunately I had really good friends who would escort me to classes and sit with me through them so that I'd be protected-GoGo, especially, wasn't afraid to fight any other Alpha who tried to do anything to me.

"Unfortunately by the time I met Fred I was so used to people only wanting to be with me because I was an Omega and not because they actually wanted to get to know me that I was convinced that he was just someone else who wanted to take advantage of me. But he was persistent, and over time I finally realized that he wasn't trying to do anything to hurt me, so I let myself start to trust him, just a little bit.

"Then one day we got jumped by some Alphas in the parking lot-I was sure I was done for. But Fred actually started fighting them off! I mean, admittedly he got the worst of it, but he managed to keep them away long enough for campus security to get there. I thought he was being ridiculously brave, taking on some Alphas when he was just a Beta, but when I brought it up with him he told me-"

"Alphas? Fuck if I knew they were Alphas, I just knew they were trying to hurt you and I wasn't about to let that happen!" Fred puts in, laughing, making it obvious that he had heard his mate tell this story many times before.

"Well, I was going to leave out the cursing, but yes," Tadashi chuckles, rolling his eyes playfully at him. "That's how I found out that he couldn't smell classes, and between the fact that he really didn't know or care that I was an Omega and that that he had just saved me, I pretty much knew right then and there that he was the one I wanted to be my mate."

"So did you guys imprint then?" Ezra asks, getting caught up in the story.

"Not just then," Fred chuckles. "It took me a little bit to get caught up on the fact that Tadashi wanted me as his mate since I was a little behind on the whole mating thing, what with me not caring about classes and mating not really being as big a thing to Betas as dating and marriage is.

"But once I finally figured it out, I was extremely honored, and it didn't take me long to realize that I wanted that too."

"So were you able to tell when you'd imprinted?" Ezra presses, hoping that he wasn't being insensitive but honestly curious.

"Oh yeah, I could definitely tell," Fred chuckles, lovingly pecking Tadashi's cheek. "There's no way even I could have missed that."

"That is so awesome!" Ezra grins at them. "Thank you for sharing that story with us!"

"Of course!" Fred grins back at him. "Now, I totally want to hear how you guys imprinted!"

"Wait-Fred, you don't want to hear what I presented as?" Hiro asks, looking slightly shocked.

"I mean, dude, yeah, if you want to tell me I'd totally love to hear!" Fred answers. "But it's only if you're comfortable with it!"

"Well… I kind of presented as Omega…" Hiro tells him, looking just the tiniest bit anxious as he waits for the other's response.

"Oh, cool! So you're like Dashi, then!" Fred beams at him.

Hiro couldn't have looked more surprised. "You- You're not surprised that I didn't present as Alpha?"

"Well, I mean, that's what I know you thought you were going to be-which, if you're upset you didn't, my sincerest apologies, amigo," Fred answers, gently patting his shoulder. "But at the end of the day, isn't it all really arbitrary who ends up with what? I feel like only half of the people out there end up being what they think they're going to be. Besides, it shouldn't really matter that much-who you want to be, who you fall in love with, that's up to you, not your class, so it doesn't really make much more difference what you present as than what hair color you're born with, right?"

"I… I guess…" Hiro replies, looking absolutely dumbfounded by his response.

"See?" Ezra beams down at him. "That's what I've been trying to tell you all along!"

"Wow… Um, I guess if I have two of the most important people in my life telling me that, there must be something to it…" Hiro mumbles, a small smile on his face.

"Yeah." Fred playfully ruffles his hair. "Don't sweat it, little dude-there's literally no reason for you to be stressing out about this!"

"T-Thanks," Hiro laughs, playfully batting his hands away.

"Okay, that settled," Fred says cheerfully once he's given the younger teen a minute to calm down, "you still owe me the story of how you guys became mates!"

"Fair enough!" Hiro laughs. "Ez, you want to tell it?"

"I'd honestly be interested to hear it from your perspective," Ezra admits.

"O-Oh…" Hiro flushes slightly before finally agreeing, "A-All right… Well, it kind of started on Saturday when Ez and I-"

Before he could get any further, suddenly the door to the office comes flying open to reveal a short, raven haired woman standing in the doorway, a tall blonde girl and a guy with dreads hovering behind her.

"Why am I hearing rumors flying all over the Nerd Lab that Hiro has not only presented, but he's been dragging a guy who everyone thinks is his mate around the Lab on a tour?" the raven haired female demands before adding, "No, better question: why am I the last one to hear about it?!"

"GoGo, calm down!" Tadashi chides her, seeing how freaked out his younger brother was looking.

"Calm down? Something major happened to one of my friends and somehow I'm the last person in the entire school to know about it!" GoGo snaps.

"I'm sure it's not the entire school," Fred puts in.

"Uh, no, it's kind of all over… People in my class were getting texts about it…" the tall blonde Ezra vaguely remembers being called Honey Lemon answers, looking apologetic as she pulls out her phone as evidence.

"Let me see that!" Tadashi all but snatches the phone away from her, quickly starting to scan through the texts.

"Oh my gosh… My life is over…" Hiro groans, putting his head in his hands.

"Why are people even texting about this?!" Tadashi snaps.

"Probably because Hiro's the youngest student ever to attend this school and he's a genius so anything major he does kind of attracts a lot of attention?" the guy with dreads Ezra was almost positive was named Wasabi answers, obviously trying to be helpful by answering the question literally but failing in the category of actually providing any comfort.

"It's going to be all right, Hiro," Honey Lemon says soothingly, gently patting Hiro's shoulder. "No one means any harm by it-they weren't saying anything negative, they were just spreading the news, which I think is very exciting for you!"

"Doesn't make it any better," Tadashi growls. "I feel like I should go to the Dean of Students about this…"

"Fat lot of good that's going to do-if no one's doing anything to try to harm him, you can't stop them from spreading the news," GoGo states flatly.

Tadashi looks like he wants to argue, but finally even he has to admit that he has a valid point. "Fine…" he finally mutters. "But if anyone posts _anything_ that I think is inappropriate or hurtful to Hiro-"

"Then we'll be right with you to take it to the Dean," Wasabi tells him.

"Good." Tadashi nods at that, his anger at least momentarily appeased.

"So, looks like the rumors are true," GoGo says, sniffing at Hiro. "You turned out to be an Omega, huh?"

"Y-Yeah…" Hiro agrees quietly, finally lifting his head just the tiniest bit out of his hands to look at her.

"Oh my gosh, that's so exciting!" Honey Lemon eagerly pulls him into a hug, and Ezra was extremely glad that she was an Omega too or else his slightly possessive instincts might have caused him to do something he would have seriously regretted. "You're like me and Dashi!"

"Honey, it's not like he's been sorted into your Hogwarts house or something…" GoGo sighs, rolling her eyes at her but seeming to be fighting a slight smile all the same.

"Hogwarts houses would be preferable to this craziness…" Hiro admits quietly, although even he seemed to have found the humor in GoGo's joke.

"Oh, trust me, it's really not that bad!" Honey says, hugging him a little tighter. "It just takes a little getting used to, but once you figure out the timing of your cycles you don't even think about it too much-plus Dashi and I will be here if you have any questions about anything!"

"And I usually keep extra supplies on hand in case of emergencies," Wasabi adds. "I may be a Beta, but I like to make sure all my friends are taken care of, so if you ever have a situation my office is always open, okay?"

"Same thing with me," GoGo agrees. "I keep a box for Honey in case she ever runs out, so we've got you covered."

"Um, thanks…?" It was obvious to Ezra that Hiro had no more of an idea of what type of "situation" the others might be referring to than he did, but the offers were still well meant and something about them seemed to be making the younger teen feel at least a little bit better.

"So." GoGo suddenly rounds on Ezra, looking him over critically. "I'm assuming you're the mystery guy everyone is talking about. So, is it true? You're Hiro's mate?"

"I, uh…"

Somehow Ezra found it hard to talk, let alone breathe with her piercing brown eyes fixed on him as if she was staring right into his very soul, but he found his lungs functioning again as Hiro slips his hand into his own and answers shyly but proudly, "Yep! Guys, this is Ezra. Ezra, this is GoGo, Honey Lemon, and 'Sabi."

"Nice to meet all of you," Ezra manages to get out, glad that he had at least remembered their names correctly.

"Aw, it's nice to meet you too!" Honey Lemon beams at him. "I can't believe Hiro has a mate, that's so sweet!"

"Um, thanks, I think?" Ezra flushes and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.

"So, how did you two meet?" Honey presses eagerly, almost matching Fred in her puppy-like cheerfulness.

"Well, we've been friends since preschool," Hiro answers, grinning up at his mate and lightly nuzzling against him. "I guess I'd just never actually thought about the possibility of us being anything more than that until Saturday when-"

"WAIT! HOLD EVERYTHING!" It was Fred who broke in this time. "You know what this story needs? The proper environment to be told in! Guys, c'mon, this is huge news-Hiro presenting and getting a mate, that's totally awesome, right? We need to celebrate this!"

"Ooh, yes!" Honey Lemon eagerly claps her hands together. "A party!"

"Well, maybe not a full party," Fred amends. "But we can at least take the little dudes out for pizza or sushi or something, and _then_ they can tell us how it all went down! If they're okay with that, that is," he adds, looking to the two teens for approval.

Ezra looks to his mate to see what he was thinking. "I'm okay with anything, but what do you think, Hiro?"

"I… Well, I wasn't exactly thinking of a party, but I should have expected something like that with these guys," Hiro answers wryly. "And I guess if you're okay with it…"

"Awesome!" Fred beams at them. "We're totally doing this, then!"

"We still have to figure out how get Hiro out of here safely…" Tadashi notes, looking relieved that his little brother was feeling a bit better but still concerned for his well being. "I mean, I don't think he's in any physical danger, but you know some people are going to be jerks and try to come up and ask him questions that are going to be super uncomfortable. And there might be some of those stupid campus organizations that are going to try to force him to join just because he's presented as an Omega…"

"We'll just make a security ring around him, same as we did for you," GoGo answers with a small shrug. "Anyone tries to pull anything funny, we'll make them regret it."

"That sounds like a plan," Tadashi agrees with a nod, his protective instincts appeased.

"Wow-things certainly got…. interesting very quickly," Ezra whispers to Hiro as the others discuss their strategy for getting the pair out of the Lab with the least amount of trouble.

"Yeah, that kind of happens with these guys," Hiro agrees wryly. "You think you can handle their level of crazy?"

"I can at least try," Ezra chuckles before asking gently, "How about you? You doing okay? I know the whole 'people texting your private business to the entire world' thing had you pretty freaked out-and understandably, I would be freaked out too if I was in your position!"

"I'll live with it," Hiro shrugs, sighing slightly before adding with a slight smile, "I mean, hey, at least now it's over and done with all at once so I don't have to worry about people gradually figuring it out, right?"

"I guess that's true…" Ezra admits before wrapping his arms around his waist and adding, "But if you ever need me to step in and stop someone from doing something you're not comfortable with-"

"I don't think I really need a savior, but the offer is very sweet," Hiro answers, lightly pecking his cheek.

"I know you don't," Ezra answers, pecking him back. "But I just want to make sure you know I've got your back if you need me."

"Trust me," Hiro reassures him, gently tugging on his shirt to bring him down to his level, Ezra feeling butterflies in his stomach as the other teen leans in so close that his words ghost across his lips before he actually kisses him, "I definitely do."


	6. Chapter 6

_Buckle up, kiddos! This chapter is about to earn this fic it's rating-it's not going to get ridiculously NSFW, but let's just say things are about to get HEATed._

0o0

After the craziness of those first few days of Hiro presenting and imprinting and then the whole coming out process that came with that, things actually settled back down to what could honestly be considered close to normal for them. Hiro and Ezra both continued on with school, and fortunately neither of them had too much trouble with anyone being too nosy (or if Hiro did, Ezra never heard about it, and he trusted Hiro's friends to look after him when he couldn't be there for him.) The most noticeable change that did occur (which neither teen minded at all) was the fact that their respective guardians were being a bit more lax about their schedules to allow them to have more time together.

Before imprinting, usually they only got to see each other on weekends, maybe once or twice during the school week if they were lucky, and they just had to make up for the lack of physical time together with texting and phone calls. Now, though, most days after school Ezra went to SFIT or the Cafe-wherever Hiro was-to do his homework and spend time with his mate until eight o'clock when he had to head home in order to be back in time for his nine o'clock curfew. (As understanding as his parents were being, they had to draw a line somewhere.)

Sometimes they'd go to Ezra's house if Hiro wasn't working on a project that he needed access to the Nerd Lab for, but usually there were people coming and going (rather loudly) at all hours there so the Lab or the apartment above the Cafe was preferable. To tell the truth, the week after everything had calmed down was probably the best of Ezra's life-he was spending time with his amazing best friend who was also now his mate, and he was getting a bit of a sneak preview at what it would be like actually attending school with him here next year!

The week following that first one probably would have been just as wonderful if Ezra hadn't been slightly worried about the fact that Hiro acting a bit… odd. He couldn't put a finger on what exactly seemed off about his general aura, but there were some definitely worrisome behaviors that had him seriously concerned. During the first half of the week, Hiro kept complaining about never being able to feel full no matter how much he ate, and he was pretty much devouring everything in sight. Then on Friday, he suddenly stopped feeling hungry and instead started to start not being able to keep anything down. After his third time of going to puke in the Nerd Lab's restroom, Ezra insisted on checking his forehead, and when it turned out to be rather warm, the teen had Baymax (the nursebot that Tadashi had built that had actually gotten him into the university at his own Freshman Expo) check Hiro for any signs of the flu or some sort of virus that might be making him ill.

To his complete and total shock, Baymax claimed that Hiro was perfectly healthy and that there was nothing at all wrong with him. Ezra knew that that couldn't be right-maybe the robot was malfunctioning. But Tadashi and the rest of the older members of the group were all so immersed in major projects that they barely so much as took a break to eat or sleep so Ezra figured that now wasn't the time to ask the inventor to take a look at his faulty invention. Deciding that the best plan for now was to just get Hiro home so he could rest, Ezra calls up Kanan (who was just finishing his patrol) asking him if he could give them a ride back to the Cafe, which the officer was more than willing to do under the circumstances.

Back at the Cafe, Aunt Cass was more than a little surprised to see Hiro's condition when Kanan carried him inside given the fact that the teen been perfectly fine that morning, but she chalked whatever was making the boy sick up to stress from school lowering his immune system and completely agreed with Ezra that the best idea would be for Hiro to get some rest. Unfortunately, what Ezra hadn't counted on was her telling him that he should go home so that he wouldn't get sick too. He tried to protest, to explain that it was his job to take care of Hiro if he wasn't well, but to his horror Kanan actually agreed with the older woman. Eventually, despite his many protestations, he was forced to leave, his only consolation being that Aunt Cass promised to call when she had any updates on Hiro's condition.

The next day was the longest of Ezra's life. Saturday seemed to stretch on for forever, mocking him with the reminder that today he should have been spending time with Hiro and instead he was stuck here at home, feeling completely and totally useless. He knew that he shouldn't take his frustration out on his family, and he tried not to, but somehow everything everyone said and did only seemed to set him off, and eventually he just has to seal himself in his room or else risk getting into an actual fight with Sabine and one or both of them coming off with a few very real scars instead of just the light bruises or scratches they usually got from play wrestling.

By the time Saturday afternoon had arrived and he'd received no phone call or text from either Hiro or Aunt Cass, Ezra was starting to feel like he was seriously about to lose his mind from not knowing what was happening. And even though his parents had told him not to pester the Hamadas since Hiro was sick and they were just trying to take care of him, he finds that he just can't wait any longer and sends off a desperate text to Aunt Cass, begging her for an update on Hiro's condition. About half an hour later he gets a reply text-apparently Hiro still had a fever but the throwing up had stopped which was hopefully a sign that he was improving. Ezra silently rejoiced that his mate was recovering, and then, deciding to push his luck to see if it would hold out any longer, asks Aunt Cass if he can come over to see Hiro if he kept the visit short and promised not to do anything that would drain the other teen's energy or make him feel worse.

It was another agonizing five minutes (which felt like much longer) before he finally received a reply: he was allowed to come see Hiro, but he could only stay for a fifteen minutes. It wasn't much, but even spending fifteen minutes with his mate was better than nothing and so Ezra almost immediately races out of the house to catch the earliest streetcar he can to take him to the Cafe.

It felt like an eternity to finally get there, but the second the tram slows to a halt at the stop closest to the Hamadas', Ezra vaulted out the door and took off running, not stopping until he was at his final destination. He didn't know if Aunt Cass would be down in the Cafe or upstairs taking care of Hiro, but he decides to take a chance and runs up the steps to the main house, trying not to knock too hard on the door but pure adrenaline pumping through him which made it hard not to. A few minutes later, the door swings open to reveal a slightly frazzled looking Aunt Cass.

"Oh, Ezra! Hello, sweetie," she greets him, obviously trying to be her normal cheerful self but her disheveled appearance making it clear that she was exhausted.

"Hi, Ms. Hamada," Ezra answers, for a moment forgetting about how badly his hormones were acting up in favor of feeling sympathy for her current situation-trying to run a business and take care of an ill nephew all at the same time couldn't be easy.

"You can head on up," Aunt Cass tells him, swinging the door open wider to allow him in. "He was awake the last time I saw him-poor thing's been sleeping a lot, he keeps saying that his stomach is hurting really badly even if it seems he's finally finished throwing up. I've been trying to look after him as best I can, but one of the girls called out today so I'm short staffed down in the Cafe, and I hate to call Tadashi home and worry him when I know he's so busy with school right now…"

"I can look after Hiro for a while, if you want," Ezra offers before adding quickly, "No funny business, I promise! I just know you're exhausted and if there's anything I can do to help…"

"Well…" Aunt Cass looked conflicted, but finally her shoulders sink as she caves in. "All right. Heaven knows I could use an extra pair of arms and legs today. I'd hate to think of you catching whatever Hiro has, but if you're sure…"

"I have a really good immune system, I hardly ever get sick," Ezra reassures her. "Even if my whole family catches something usually I'm the one who never gets it."

"That makes me feel a bit better" Aunt Cass flashes him a small smile before turning to the kitchen and gesturing to a bowl sitting on the counter next to a large copper pot. "Do you think you can bring that up? I made some soup and I'm hoping it will tempt Hiro's stomach-poor little guy's has been refusing to eat, says it hurts too much, but maybe you can convince him to at least get a few spoonfuls down."

"I will do my very best," Ezra promises, heading over to pick up the bowl of soup. "Trust me, just take care of whatever you need to, I'll make sure that Hiro's okay, all right?"

"All right," Aunt Cass agrees, giving him a warm smile. "Thank you, sweetie." Then she heads down the stairs to the Cafe while Ezra makes his way up the stairs to Hiro's room.

"Hey," he says softly, knocking on the door frame before actually going in. "Hiro, you awake?"

At first he thinks his mate must have fallen back asleep because he didn't see any movement, but then he sees the mass of blankets on the bed shifting and Hiro's fluffy raven's nest poking out from under it, followed moments later by the rest of his head.

"Hi Ez…" The teen looked slightly out of it, but he holds his arms out, looking very much like a neglected puppy who wanted some attention. "I missed you…"

"I missed you too," Ezra answers, a warm smile making its way across his face as he crosses the room to his mate, gently setting the bowl down on the nightstand before sitting down next to Hiro on the bed, asking softly, "Is there anything I can get you? Do you need an ice pack or something?"

"No…" Hiro responds, wrapping his arms around Ezra and nuzzling up against him. "I feel better having you here…"

"I'm glad." Ezra hugs him back and cuddles him closer. "Because I'm not going anywhere, okay? I'll stay here as long as you need me."

Hiro beams up at him before sleepily going back to burying his face in his mate's chest. Ezra was just thinking about how he could best go about trying to get the other teen to eat when suddenly he feels the other stiffening against him.

"Hiro? You okay?" he asks in concern, pulling away slightly so that he could look at him. "Is something wrong?"

Hiro didn't answer immediately-he just looked up at him with an odd, almost hungry expression on his face, his arms wrapping a bit tighter around the other teen's waist. And then suddenly, without warning, he pulls Ezra down into a kiss-and not just a normal, sweet and innocent kiss like they usually shared. This one was all heat and passion, tongues and teeth, and Ezra was completely unprepared for it, feeling himself getting swept away in a haze of pleasure and desire, Hiro's scent somehow seeming to be magnified a hundredfold and making him absolutely dizzy, sweeping everything else out of his head. He didn't even realize what was going on until suddenly he felt the other teen gently but firmly pushing him down onto the mattress, quietly growling in his ear, "Take it off."

"W-What?" Ezra stammers, Hiro's scent making it hard for him to think clearly.

"Your clothes," Hiro answers, his tone coy but insistent. "All of them. They need to come off."

Ezra was so far gone that he almost did what his mate wanted without even questioning it. But then suddenly at least some semblance of sanity came back to him and he sits up in the bed, pushing Hiro away. "N-No! Hiro, I can't- We can't- You're sick! Besides, you're underage, Tadashi would kill me if he knew-!"

"Tadashi doesn't have to know," Hiro purrs, suddenly starting to trail kisses across Ezra's jaw and making him gasp. "No one does. Come on, Ez-please? Don't you want this?"

Oh, Ezra wanted it. He wanted it so badly that it was taking every single fiber of self control in his body to resist giving in. But he couldn't do this-he didn't know what was happening to Hiro, but he _knew_ that under normal circumstance there was no way his mate would be acting like this or trying to get him to do this. Maybe whatever was making Hiro sick was doing this to him, but there was no way that the Alpha was going to take advantage of the other teen when he clearly wasn't thinking clearly.

"I-I have to go." As much as it pains him to do it, Ezra pushes Hiro away again, quickly scrambling out of the bed.

"Ez…" Hiro gives him a look like a puppy who had just been kicked. "Don't leave me!"

"S-Something isn't right," Ezra stammers out. "I don't know what it is, but you'll thank me for this later. I'm going to go get Aunt Cass and she can help us figure out what's going on."

"Please…" Hiro looks pleadingly at him before finally realizing that the innocent puppy act wasn't going to work and suddenly changing tactics. He pulls off his own shirt and lies down on the bed in a very inviting position, purring out his mate's name. It was almost enough to make Ezra change his mind-almost. But before he can do something that he knows they'll both regret later on, he hurries down the stairs, slamming the door shut behind him in hopes that it would help make it easier for him to think with a barrier between him and Hiro's scent. It actually did help a bit, but by the time he reached the living room he still had no clue what was going on that was making the other teen act like he was going crazy. He was about to head down to the Cafe to try to find Aunt Cass and see if she had any ideas about what to do, but then he suddenly he hears the front door opening and he turns towards it to find-

"TADASHI!" Relief flooding through him, Ezra races over to the older man. "Oh my gosh, thank goodness you're here!"

"Ezra?" Tadashi frowns down at him in confusion at him. "What's wrong?"

"There's something wrong with Hiro!" Ezra gasps out.

"...There's _what_? What's happening?" Tadashi asks, instantly going into protective older brother mode.

"He's been running a fever and throwing up all weekend," Ezra explains, his words coming tumbling out all in a rush. "Aunt Cass wouldn't let me come see him, but he was feeling a little bit better today so she said I could come visit him. Everything was fine when I got here, but then suddenly he started- Well…" The teen flushes bright red, not sure how to explain what had just happened without Tadashi starting to blame him.

"He what?" Tadashi presses, frowning and obviously a bit overwhelmed by all of this new information but trying to take it all in. "What is he doing?"

"He was kind of, um… Trying to proposition me…" Eza answers, turning even brighter red.

He expected Tadashi to immediately freak out, but instead the older man just frowns even deeper before asking, "Did you notice anything else before it happened? Did his scent change at all?"

"It got a lot stronger, if that's what you mean," Ezra tells him, hoping that this meant the other man had some idea as to what was going on.

"Oh man…" Tadashi puts his face in one of his hands. "I should have realized this was going to happen… I should have been looking for the signs, but I was so slammed with work this week that I didn't even think- I don't know why Aunt Cass didn't notice, but I guess since she's a Beta she wouldn't necessarily be thinking about it… Still, she should never have let you in here!"

"Did I do something wrong?" Ezra asks, worry and guilt twisting his stomach into knots.

"Not exactly," Tadashi quietly groans. "Hiro- He's gone into heat."

"He… What?" Ezra feels his brain blanking out-he felt he should know the word but his memory was refusing to retrieve the definition.

"He's started his cycle," Tadashi answers, looking decidedly frazzled, as if he'd been expecting to come home and get to rest, not have to deal with all of this. "You should have learned about it in health class at school-it's when his body is preparing to be fertile and so his hormones make him extremely amorous as a response to give him a greater chance of reproducing."

"O-Oh…" Ezra stammers out, everything he'd had to learn in that extremely uncomfortable class coming back to him. "So that's why he was so hungry all last week-his body was stocking up on nutrients! And then when he started throwing up he was purging it all out because everything was getting ready to shift around…"

"Yes, exactly," Tadashi agrees with a quiet sigh, running a hand through his hair. "And you being here probably sent him right over the edge…"

"I'm so sorry!" Ezra apologizes. "This is all my fault, I never should have come…"

"No, it's not your fault!" Tadashi tells him. "It would have happened with or without you being here. But right now, you really need to go, for both your sakes. If you stay here, Hiro's going to come looking for you and he's probably just going to get more… Forceful than he already was."

"But what's going to happen to him?" Ezra presses. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Hopefully this will just run its course," Tadashi replies, shaking his head. "Heat can last anywhere from a few hours to a week, it depends on the person. I could give him some heat suppressants, but usually those end up making Omegas feel really groggy and sick so it's better to just see if he can get through this on his own."

"O-Okay," Ezra agrees with a nod before asking, "Will you text me when he's over it so I can come see him?"

"Yes, I'll do that," Tadashi promises as he opens the door for the teen, all but pushing him out and sighing, "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a little brother to go deal with…"

The next twenty-four hours were agonizing for Ezra. Not only was he extremely worried about Hiro, his own body was acting up in ways that were making him incredibly uncomfortable. At first he felt too embarrassed to talk to anyone about what was happening, but he finally out of desperation he went to Uncle Zeb with his questions. Fortunately his uncle reassured him that what was happening was perfectly normal, that his body was just responding to the fact that his mate was in heat and that staying away from Hiro was probably the best way to handle things. That didn't help much, but the words at least gave him some degree of comfort knowing that what was happening to him was normal, and in the end he just does his best to distract himself from his burning need to be with his mate by locking himself in his room and trying to marathon the entire Star Wars series.

By mid-afternoon Sunday, Ezra was almost out of content and seriously debating starting on Clone Wars when suddenly he gets a text alert from his phone. Trying not to get his hopes up, he checks his messages, his heart leaping in his chest when he sees that the newest one was a text from Tadashi telling him that Hiro was back to normal and that he could come see him. Thrilled beyond belief, he hurries out the door to find the nearest tram across town, desperate to see his mate again.

As soon as he gets to the house, he races up the steps and knocks on the door, eagerly waiting for someone to answer it. He's slightly surprised when he doesn't get a response for a good minute, and he finally texts Tadashi to ask if everything was okay. Shortly after that he receives a text back saying that the door was unlocked and that he should just come on up. The response seemed a little odd, but Ezra was too eager to see Hiro to think too much about it. He follows the directions to come upstairs, frowning when he reaches the bedroom and finds that it appeared to be empty.

"What the heck?" he murmurs to himself, glancing around the room and trying to figure out what was going on.

Then suddenly he hears Hiro's voice coming from the bathroom, calling out, "Ez? Ez, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," Ezra answers, a bit confused but following the sound all the same. "Is everything okay?"

"It's fine!" Hiro answers lightly before adding, "You can come in!"

"All right…?" This was starting to seem a little fishy, but Ezra was too desperate to see his mate to take the warnings that his brain was sending him seriously. He reaches for the door handle and opens the door-only to find Hiro in the bathtub, soaking in what looked like an ice bath.

Instantly Ezra goes completely red-thank goodness there was so much ice in the bath that it made it impossible for him to see anything below the other teen's shoulders, but still! When he sees Tadashi's phone resting on the edge of the tub, the pieces all fell into place-he'd been duped, and it was his own fault for not seeing this coming.

"Uh, Hiro, I-I have to go…" he stammers, quickly turning around and starting for the door-shit, he needed to get out of here _now_. But before he can get too far, he hears splashing coming from the bathtub, and then he feels wet arms wrapping around him from behind, pulling him to a stop.

"Ezra… I missed you…" Hiro whines. "Why haven't you been coming to see me? D-Do you hate me?"

"Hiro, no, I don't hate you," Ezra answers, absolutely frozen because he had no idea what the hell he was supposed to do right now. He had his mate's wet, naked body pressed up against him, and he was very, very much trying to have self control when everything in his body was telling him otherwise. "I-It's just that right now I can't be with you because it's not safe for either of us-"

"Did Tadashi tell you not to come see me? He's being so mean!" Hiro snaps. "You shouldn't listen to him, you should be here with me! Stay!" His hands travel lower on the other teen's body as he whispers seductively, "You can come take a bath with me…"

"Hiro, I-" Ezra was desperately trying to figure out how to get out of this situation (and how to stop what was happening _down there_ ) when suddenly, to his great horror, he hears footsteps coming up the stairs, followed by Tadashi's voice calling out,

"Hiro? Hiro, you little shit, I can't believe you stole my phone, you better not have-!"

And then the door was opened and Ezra felt like he just wanted to sink into the floor and die.

"H-He texted me and made me think it was you!" the blue haired teen stammers out, hoping that Tadashi wasn't about to murder him even though he looked like he very much wanted to. "He told me the heat was over and I could come see him, and he left the front door unlocked…" Even to his own ears it sounded like a pathetic explanation, and he was kicking himself for being so stupid as to have actually believed the texts. When he sees Tadashi stalking towards him, he was pretty much resigned to the fact that he was going to be murdered in cold blood and he completely and totally deserved it.

But then, to his great and total surprise, he found the older man prying Hiro off of his back and snapping, "Hiro, what the freaking fuck were you thinking doing that?!" Ezra knew that Tadashi never cursed around his younger sibling if he could help it, so this was a sure sign that he was beyond pissed.

"I wanted to see Ez!" Hiro answers petulantly, sounding not at all repentant.

"You little- I will deal with you later!" Ezra heard the unmistakable sound of the other teen being protestingly plunged back into the bath, but he refused to turn around to see what what exactly was happening because he knew he was already treading on thin ice as it was and he didn't want to exacerbate the situation.

"And _stay_ there this time!" Tadashi growls before slamming the door shut behind him.

"Tadashi, I'm so, so sorry!" Ezra apologizes as soon as he can see the older man again. "I can't believe I fell for that, but I did and there's no excuse but I swear as soon as I figured it out I tried to leave but Hiro-"

"Yeah, you were stupid for falling for it," Tadashi answers, a dark scowl crossing his face, and Ezra penitently bows his head, a shamed flush crossing his cheeks.

"I-I understand if you want to beat me up for this…" he mumbles.  
"I… Don't want to beat you up," Tadashi sighs after taking a moment to collect himself. "I mean, I do. I definitely do. But I'm not going to. I can't really blame you for what happened. My first heat after imprinting I did the exact same thing to Fred, which is unfortunately probably how Hiro got the idea…"

Ezra honestly had some major questions about that, but he realizes that now wasn't the time for them and so he just bites his tongue and nods in response.

"Look, I'm going to let you go with a warning," Tadashi tells him. "Consider it my one act of mercy since you're entitled to one stupid mistake. But next time, DON'T trust a text. Wait until I actually call you and you hear my voice so you know it's not another trick."

"Y-Yes sir," Ezra agrees humbly, extremely grateful that he was actually going to live to see tomorrow.

"Now go home," Tadashi says, pointing towards the door and shaking his head slightly. "I have to deal with Hiro. I was hoping that keeping his temperature cooled and letting him work through this himself would help, but apparently it isn't, so I'm going to have to put him on heat suppressants, like it or not."

"Will that help him not… act like this?" Ezra dares to ask.

"It should," Tadashi answers. "Hopefully by tomorrow he'll be at least back to semi-normal."

"Good to hear…" Ezra nods awkwardly, glad to hear that he hopefully wouldn't have to worry about something like this happening again, before hurrying off down the stairs, deciding not to push his luck by staying any longer.

The next twenty-four hours were spent in silent humiliation combined with wondering if Tadashi would actually call him, or even ever let him see Hiro again. By the time that school was over, Ezra was pretty much convinced that he had permanently lost his best friend because of his own idiotic mistake. But then, just as he was just getting ready to climb on the school bus, his phone starts ringing. He frantically scrambles to answer it, his hands shaking so badly that he almost drops it, but somehow he manages to pick it up just in time, answering with, "H-Hello?"

"Hey, Ezra?" Tadashi's voice came from the other end, sounding tired but a lot calmer than he'd been yesterday. "You're out of school now, right? I tried to make sure I wasn't calling you in the middle of class."

"No, I'm done with classes for the day!" Ezra answers. "Is everything all right? Is Hiro okay?"

"Hiro's fine," Tadashi reassures him. "The heat suppressants are making him pretty groggy, but he's not acting like a hormonal mess anymore. He's been asking for you, and since he seems to be doing better now I thought I'd let you know that you can come over if you want to."

"Hell yeah I want to!" Ezra tells him, relief flooding through him. "I'll be over as fast as I can! Thank you for calling me and letting me know!"

"You're welcome." Tadashi sounded vaguely amused and seemed about to be about to say something else when suddenly there's another voice in the background and he mumbles, "Hold on" before going silent for a moment. When his voice returns, he says in a slightly aggravated but resigned voice, "Hiro wants to know if you'll bring gummy bears-they're pretty much the only thing he's willing to eat right now and we've run out of them."

"Tell him I'll bring him the biggest bag that I can find," Ezra promises before hanging up, grinning as he heads in the direction of the nearest grocery store. He had some shopping to do!

He finally arrived at the Hamadas' about an hour later, his arms loaded down with shopping bags-he'd found a five pound bag of regular gummy bears at the store, as well as several smaller bags of special flavors, like sours and a tropical mix. If Hiro wanted gummy bears, he was going to get as many as Ezra could possibly find for him!

The Alpha somehow manages to lift an arm high enough to knock on the door, and then he stands back to wait for an answer. When it finally opens, he finds Tadashi standing there, looking a lot more put together than he had the day before.

"Hey," he greets Ezra with a small nod.

"Hi…" Ezra answers carefully, still not completely sure that the elder male didn't secretly have plans to murder him after everything that had happened the day before.

"Look, about yesterday…" Tadashi sighs, obviously noticing his hesitation. "I'm sorry for blowing up at you like that. Hiro was the one who was out of line, not you, and I was so exhausted after dealing with his hormonal craziness that I just kind of snapped. But that's still no excuse, and I'm sorry. I know this can't have been any easier for you than it has been for Hiro, and yet you've still tried to do the right thing by him no matter what. Many Alphas stronger than you would have caved, and yet you didn't, and I'm actually really grateful to you for that."

"Y-You're welcome." Ezra feels himself flushing, but he was grateful to hear that Tadashi wasn't mad at him anymore.

"Whoa-are those all gummy bears?" the older man asks, noticing the bags the teen is carrying. "You didn't have to get near that many! I mainly just told you the gummy bear thing as a joke, you didn't actually have to bring any!"

"If Hiro wants gummy bears, he's getting gummy bears," Ezra answers with a small shrug.

"...All right then." Tadashi seems to be fighting back a small smile as he gestures to the living room where _Clone Wars_ was playing on the TV. "Hiro's on the couch right now. I don't know if he's awake or not, but you can go see him if you want to."

"Thanks." Ezra flashes him a grateful smile before heading over. He carefully sets the bags down on the coffee table before turning to see if Hiro was actually awake. The teen only had his eyes half open, practically cocooned in a fluffy blue blanket, but he seems to grow slightly more alert in the presence of his mate.

"Hey…" Hiro manages to get out, sounding like his throat was a bit scratchy.

"Hey," Ezra answers, gently sitting down on the edge of the couch and unable to keep from smiling when the other teen squirms over to him and lays his head in his lap. "You feeling any better since yesterday?"

"Don' really 'member yesterday…" Hiro mumbles, and it was clear from his innocent, if somewhat sleepy, expression that it was the truth, making his mate decide that it was probably for the best that Hiro couldn't recall what had happened.

"How are you feeling now?" Ezra asks softly.

"My stomach feels weird..." Hiro answers after a moment. "And I'm really tired…"

"Yeah, that's probably the suppressants," Ezra tells him, sympathetically stroking his hair. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Did you bring gummy bears?" Hiro asks hopefully.

"I did!" Ezra answers with a grin, reaching for a bag and tearing it open. "You can have as many as you want, okay?"

Hiro beams up at him before expectantly opening his mouth. It took Ezra a moment to realize what he wanted, and then he chuckles as he pulls a red gummy bear (Hiro's favorite) out of the bag and playfully puts it in the other teen's mouth.

Hiro lets out a happy hum as he chews before nuzzling up against him and saying softly, "You're the best..."

"I'll settle for being as good as you," Ezra answers with a gentle smile.

"Okay…" Hiro agrees sleepily, his eyes sliding shut as he rests his head against the other teen. Ezra was just convinced that he'd fallen back asleep when suddenly Hiro whispers, "Love you, Ez."

For a moment Ezra felt his heart stop in his chest. Wait, had Hiro actually just said-?

Maybe it was the meds talking, so he tried not to read too much into it. Still, he can't help but feel a warm glow in his chest as he cuddles Hiro close and whispers, "I love you too."


	7. Chapter 7

Hiro's heat lasted about a week. Tadashi said that the suppressants usually made the heat last longer than if the Omega went through it naturally, so they could assume that Hiro's heat was naturally about three to four days long (not something that they necessarily needed to know at the moment but good knowledge for the future when the time would come that Hiro could go through it in the more natural way-something everyone seemed to be avoiding talking about for the moment.) Tadashi also made sure to carefully mark down the dates of Hiro's first heat and said that he'd continue to do so for the next three so that they'd have a general idea of when Hiro's four heat cycles would take place each year-knowing the general time they'd fall in would help them be able to prepare for them, and even now, thanks to Hiro having his first, they knew that the next one wouldn't come for another three months.

Once the heat was over, things pretty much returned to normal. Hiro apparently didn't remember much of what happened during that week, and Ezra was more than happy to not bring up some of the more awkward things that had happened during it (although fortunately nothing particularly troublesome had occurred after those first two days when Hiro had been without medication.) Everything continued on as normal, which Ezra was quite happy about. That is, everything was normal until right near the end of the semester.

Ezra was in a pretty good mood the day that everything went down-there were just a few more days until Halloween, and this year he'd been invited to attend the Halloween party that Fred was hosting which, according to Hiro, was pretty much the coolest Halloween event in the city. The couple had been debating costume ideas on and off for weeks, and finally they'd come to a decision which was slightly dorky but they'd agreed wouldn't be too embarrassing since it was only their friends who would be there: Ezra would be going as Chat Noir and Hiro as the male version of Ladybug whom they had dubbed "Gentlebug".

The costumes were pretty much complete, they only had a few last minute details to take care of, which was exactly what they were meeting up after school to complete. Ezra knew that Hiro might be running a little late because he said that he had to meet with his adviser to schedule classes for the spring semester (the Alpha didn't completely understand how that all worked, but he figured it would make more sense once he was actually in college and experiencing it himself.)

When he got to the Lab, he found that, as he'd expected, Hiro hadn't arrived yet, so he heads over to where Fred was hanging out in the recliner that served as his makeshift "office" (technically it was supposed to be general seating for anyone in the lab to use, but by unspoken agreement somehow over the years everyone had come to acknowledge that the chair was reserved for Fred whenever he was in the Lab.) The two started talking about the party, and eventually the conversation started drifting over to other areas of common interests that they had, like the latest Steven Universe episode and how they were both fairing on a new game that had been sweeping nerd world recently. Ezra was still trying to get to know Hiro's friends, but he'd bonded with Fred very early on-maybe it had to do with the fact that they were mated to a pair of brothers, or maybe it was just that they happened to have a lot of things in common. Whatever the cause, it was nice having someone he could almost consider an older brother figure.

They were so caught up in their conversation that Ezra didn't spot Hiro until he'd almost walked right past them. The Alpha starts to call out his mate's name, only for the word to die in his throat when he notices the other teen's posture-shoulders hunched, head lowered, and arms wrapped tightly around his torso. There was definitely, _definitely_ something wrong, and Ezra immediately races over to his mate, pulling him into a tight hug as he whispers, "Hiro, what's wrong?"

For a moment Hiro refuses to meet his eyes, but then suddenly the shorter teen buries his face into the other's chest, shoulders heaving and drops of moisture soaking through the Alpha's shirt despite the fact he was making absolutely no sound.

"What happened?" Ezra asks, a protective fire kindling to life in his chest. "Did someone hurt you?" If they had, there was going to be hell to pay, he wasn't about to let someone get away with hurting the love of his life.

"T-They took them away…" Hiro finally manages to get out, his voice barely audible.

"Someone stole something from you?" Ezra presses-if someone had, they were definitely going to go to the campus police on this. SFIT had the best noses in the business on staff, they'd be able to track down whatever was taken by Hiro's scent in no time-it was almost astounding that anyone even still tried to commit a robbery here on campus.

"N-No…" Hiro answers shakily. "M-My classes…"

"Wait-are you trying to tell me that they're not letting you sign up for classes?" Ezra feels his stomach dropping in horror-no, they couldn't do that, could they?  
"T-They're letting me keep some classes," Hiro responds. "B-But they're not letting me take the business classes I was supposed to take!"

"All right…" Ezra was trying to wrap his head around exactly what had his mate so upset. "Are these classes you need for you degree?"

"Not for my robotics degree, but I'm supposed to be minoring in business!" Hiro tells him, the whole story starting to come flooding out. "Y-You know that Dashi and I have wanted to have our own company to market our inventions since we were five! But because Dashi's an Omega and owning a business isn't something Omegas are supposed to do, I told him I'd get the business degree so that we could still do it! I-I didn't even think about the fact that me presenting as an Omega was going to be a problem, but now-!"

"Oh my gosh..." Ezra breathes, instinctively pulling him close. "Oh, Hiro, I'm so sorry…"

"M-My adviser told me that I should just 'accept my place', and even said I consider switching to a teaching degree where I could 'better use my talents', if my Alpha was even okay with me getting a job," Hiro spits angrily. "She said I should really be focusing on getting ready to have children and raising them!"

"WHAT. THE. FUCK." Ezra was beyond furious. "How could she even SAY that to you?! Is that even allowed?!"

"Apparently," Hiro growls. "And that's not the worst of it!"

"It's not?" Ezra couldn't believe that anything else could have possibly gone wrong today.

"I stopped by financial aide to make sure everything was in order for next semester, and you know what I found out?"

"What?" Ezra had a sinking feeling that he already knew, but he was going to let Hiro tell him himself.

"T-They said that I was 'no longer eligible' for some of my grants and scholarships because of my status," Hiro answers, trembling slightly-from fear or anger, it was hard to tell. "Thank goodness I still have enough for tuition, but this means my research…"

"Oh my gosh." Ezra holds him tighter still, knowing that his mate's whole world must seem to be crashing down around him and not knowing what he could do to make it better. "Hiro, I'm so, so sorry… I-I don't even know what to say…"

Before Hiro can answer, Tadashi's voice suddenly breaks into the conversation, sounding suitably concerned as he asks, "Hiro? Hiro, what's going on, what's wrong?"

"Dashi…" Ezra could feel Hiro trying to break free from his embrace and he quickly releases him, allowing the younger teen to rush into the older man's arms.

"I'm sorry. I-I messed it all up, this is all my fault," Hiro cries, clinging to his brother.

"Messed what up? Hiro, tell me what's going on," Tadashi says softly as he hugs him close, and the younger boy has to repeat the events of the devastating afternoon.

By the time that he was done, Tadashi looks noticeably paler, but his voice is calm as he gently strokes the younger's hair and says, "Hiro, this isn't your fault. You couldn't control this-no one could. Those bastards on the school board banning Omegas from classes are to blame, not you. I-It's not going to be easy, but we can make this work."

"How?" Hiro whispers. "Without a business degree, we're not going to have any clue on how to run a company on our own! A-And with both of us being Omegas you know it's going to be almost impossible for us to get investors!"

"Well…" Tadashi was obviously trying to hold it together even though he could see their combined life long dream crumbling in front of them. "I-I guess there's always Krei Tech-wasn't Mr. Krei interested in your invention at the Expo?"

"You know Krei Tech doesn't hire Omegas except as secretaries and for desk jobs," Hiro answers caustically.

"...There are other companies out there," Tadashi tells him feebly, obviously trying to cling onto their last ray of hope.

"None of them are going to hire us-the minute they see Omega on our resumes, they'll just toss them in the trash without even looking any further," Hiro growls before adding in a defeated tone, "Maybe my adviser was right, maybe I should just give up and be a teacher…"

So far Ezra had been forced to just sit there, feeling completely helpless, and listen to the love of his life give up on his lifelong dream. But suddenly a rebellious fire rises up in him, telling him exactly what he needed to do to try to make this right, and he walks over to his mate and puts his arms around his waist, saying firmly, "Hiro, you are getting your business degree."

"Ez, weren't you just listening to me?" Hiro looks up at him incredulously. "I just told you that I'm banned-"

"You are," Ezra answers. "But I'm not. I'm going to get that degree for you, and I'm going to make sure you learn everything you need to too. You're pretty handy with setting up cameras people won't notice, right?"

"Y-Yeah, I guess so?" Hiro answers, trying to figure out where exactly he was going with this.

"Perfect!" Ezra beams at him. "Then if you can rig up a camera for me on something that people won't notice for those classes where the teachers won't normally let you record lectures-I can get you video feed of all of my classes so you can learn everything that you need to! I can show you the assignments that we're working on so you can do them too, and we can share my textbooks. I know that it might take a little longer than you expected to get all the information you need since I'm two years behind you, but at least it's something, right?"

"It actually might work!" Hiro agrees, visibly brightening, before frowning again. "Only, Ez, I don't want you having to go for a degree you don't want just for me-"

"You know that I have no clue what I actually want to do for my degree," Ezra answers with a slight shrug. "A business degree is as good as any other-and besides, this way maybe I can help you guys get your company started if you want! I mean, you don't have to take me on, but this way you'll have an Alpha with a business degree who can talk to investors and stuff, right? The company will still be completely under your control, of course! But if I've got this status, I might as well put it to good use to help my mate until this whole stupid system changes to be more inclusive, right?"

"I- I don't even know what to say," Hiro breathes before suddenly wrapping his arms tightly around him.

"You don't have to say anything," Ezra answers gently. "We're partners, right? And partners help each other out, no thanks needed, okay?"

"'Kay," Hiro agrees, happily nuzzling up against him.

"I guess while we're waiting for Ezra to finish his degree, there's always Callaghan," Tadashi says thoughtfully. "I was planning on taking him up on his offer while Hiro was finishing his degree since I'm a year ahead of him anyways-he wants me working on his research team, and I know he'd take Hiro on as well since he cares more about quality of work than status and he's been ridiculously impressed with everything Hiro's done so far."

"Working in Callaghan's Lab actually doesn't sound too bad," Hiro agrees. "We'd definitely learn a lot there and maybe have some time to develop our own tech. Heck, it might give us some extra credibility with the investors if they see we've been working with a team anyone would give their left arm to be a part of!"  
"Exactly!" Tadashi agrees with a grin. "It's perfect!"

"And speaking of investors…" Fred reaches out and gently puts his hand on Tadashi's shoulder. "Sweetheart, I know you've been fighting me on this for a while, but maybe it's time to consider my dad's offer."

"Fred, I couldn't-! I-It's too much!" Tadashi flushes red, and even though Ezra wasn't sure what exactly the context was to this conversation, he could tell by the way that they were both behaving that they'd been having this argument for quite a while.

"Dashi, for the last time, " Fred wraps his arms firmly around his waist, "it's not charity or anything even close to that. He's definitely not trying to just give you money because you're my mate. He is majorly impressed with your work-as he should be!-and he wants to invest in who he sees as two very promising inventors! He really thinks your inventions can change the world-as do I-and he just wants to help make sure you guys go on to shape the future the way that you should, regardless of all this class nonsense."

"I- I don't know…" Tadashi quietly mumbles.

"Fuck it, Dashi, we're not exactly in the position to be turning down investors!" Hiro tells him with a dramatic eye roll. "If he wants to give us money to get the company started, take the damn money! If you won't, I will!"

"Hiro, language!" Tadashi scolds, lightly cuffing him on the ear.

"You curse too!" Hiro points out.

"Only if I feel it's needed!" Tadashi protests.

"Well I felt it was needed now because you're being an idiot," Hiro responds dryly.

Tadashi looks like he wants to argue, but finally just settles for a slightly aggravated looking eye roll.

"So?" Hiro presses. "Are you going to accept the investment or not? And let me warn you, if you don't, I will never forgive you for passing up on this opportunity."

"Dashi, please," Fred quietly begs him. "For all our sakes, put your pride aside for once and take the help someone's offering you who means it in the best way possible."

Tadashi looks like he was trying to hold out for a minute longer, but finally his shoulders sink and he says softly, "All right. Tell your dad that we gratefully accept his offer to be an investor in our future business."

"Wonderful!" Fred beams and kisses him firmly on the cheek. "I'll talk to him tonight and have him call you to set up an appointment to sort out all the details, okay?"

"Sounds good," Tadashi agrees with a small smile.

"Hamada Bros Inc is back in business!" Hiro cheers, grinning from ear to ear.

Ezra can't help but smile as he watches the happy scene unfolding-in spite of how badly everything had started, it looked like everything was going to be all right now. Hiro and Tadashi were going to be getting to start their company after all, in spite of the incredible odds, and he was more than proud to get to play a part in this. Heck, he finally had a set degree plan, so if anything he felt he should be thanking them for helping him gain some peace of mind about his up 'til now rather uncertain future.

"Guys, I think this deserves going out to celebrate!" Fred declares, happily pecking his mate on the cheek again.

"Is that your response to everything?" Tadashi sighs, playfully rolling his eyes at him.

"Yes, and it's a very good response!" Fred answers with a grin, not at all ashamed, before asking, "So, am I allowed to take you guys out to dinner or not?"

"I suppose I can't turn down that offer as a 'starving college student'," Tadashi replies with a wry smile.

"Great!" Fred beams at him before turning to Hiro and Ezra. "What about you guys? Can I count you in?"

"Well…" Ezra glances over at his mate to see what he was thinking.

"Normally I'd say yes," Hiro says, looking back at him, "but before all this happened Ez and I kind of had plans to finish our costumes tonight…"

"And leather bodysuits don't make themselves," Ezra chuckles.

"Fair enough!" Fred agrees with a grin. "Cosplay calls-I completely understand that! Want us to bring you guys something back?"

"That sounds perfect!" Hiro answers.

"That's what we'll do, then! We'll see you guys in a little bit!" Fred smiles and waves to the two before he and Tadashi start heading for the door.

"So…" Ezra turns to Hiro once they're gone. "You ready to go get to work?"

"Yeah…" Hiro answers slowly before adding, "But there's something I want to do first."

"Oh, sure!" Ezra agrees. "What is it?"

"This." Getting up on his tiptoes, Hiro stretches up to press a long, sweet kiss to his mate's lips. Ezra, slightly surprised but definitely not about to complain about it, wraps his arms around the other teen's waist, lifting him up every so slightly off the ground so that they were at the same height. Hiro unintentionally giggles at that and, feeling playful, Ezra suddenly scoops the younger teen up into his arms, holding him princess-style.

"E-Ez!" Hiro laughs, grinning as he pulls out of the kiss.

"Just thought I'd try to make things interesting!" Ezra answers, grinning back at him.

Hiro rolls his eyes lightly at him before lightly nuzzling up against his chest. Ezra, very much enjoying this, starts to carry his mate towards his office, only to come to a sudden stop when he hears Hiro whisper, "I love you."

"W-What?" Ezra looks down at him, not daring to believe that he'd heard him correctly.

"I love you," Hiro repeats, his cheeks pink but nothing but pure sincerity shining in the gorgeous brown eyes that the Alpha loved so much. "I-I know you told me that you loved me when we first imprinted, but I didn't want to say it back until I knew for sure that I felt the same way. Now, though… I-I know we haven't been imprinted for long so maybe it's not realistic for me to think I know if I love you already, but… I just know, y'know?"

"Oh my gosh, Hiro…" Ezra breathes before pulling him into deep, passionate kiss that lasted longer than any they'd ever shared before. "I love you so, so much," he whispers when he finally pulls away. "More than you can ever know."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Hiro answers with a slightly dazed looking grin before pulling him down into another kiss.


	8. Epilogue Part 1

_Six years later…_

It had been a long, crazy road for Ezra and Hiro since that day in the lab that had happened what felt like almost an eternity ago. So much had changed-so many things had happened that they'd never even dreamed would be possible. As promised, once Ezra graduated high school, he enrolled in the business program at SFIT and, to his own amazement, not only passed his classes but excelled in them. Even if he wasn't sure that it was his passion, he apparently had good instincts for it, and thanks to a little sneaky use of technology, Hiro was able to learn right along with him. Sometimes when Ezra got the feeling that one of his professors would actually be sympathetic to Omegas wanting just as much a chance to succeed as Alphas or Betas in the field, he would even approach them and subtly ask whether they'd be willing to look at Hiro's work, and most of them were more than happy to do so. Sadly Ezra couldn't smuggle Hiro into those classes because his smell would be a dead giveaway, but they did the best they could with what they were able to do.

Almost as soon as Ezra graduated, he plunged head-first into helping the brothers start their company. They'd already been laying the groundwork once they'd graduated, but they were finally able to be considered real contenders in the business world and were able to start doing things like renting a building and talking to potential investors once they had an Alpha as the public face of their team. It made Ezra sick that people wouldn't take Hiro and Tadashi seriously just because they were Omegas, but sadly that's how culture worked at the moment and he was just glad that his own status could be used to help his loved ones. And help it did.

By the end of the company's first year, it was still struggling along, but thanks to Baymax being such an impressive robot and Hiro's own invention of microbots, they had definitely started gaining some interest from the technological world. By the end of the second year, the company had absolutely exploded into prominence. Baymaxes were starting to be used by medical facilities everywhere, and Hiro's microbots were revolutionizing all kind of industries. A lot of people in the business world were predicting them to become the next Krei Tech (although, of course, the brothers were going to run their company a lot more responsibly and with higher standards than Alistair Krei ran his.)

Ezra was still technically considered the face of the company, but he made sure at every turn to inform everyone that he only helped handle the business side of things, that the real ones who deserved the praise and recognition were the two men who were actually responsible for coming up with the idea for the company and creating the amazing tech that was making it famous. It made a lot of people uncomfortable and they all got a lot of heat for it-some horrible people in the media loved to loudly voice their opinions about how an Omega's place was in the home, taking care of the family and raising the children, not being high-profile inventors in a major company. But Hiro and Tadashi's work spoke for itself and it didn't take much to show the critics for what they really were-nothing more than petty and prejudiced people who weren't worth the brothers' time. It didn't take long for everyone involved with the company to develop thick skin when it came to the naysayers, and for the most part they were able to just ignore them and continue on with their work because the biggest "fuck you" to anyone who had something negative to say was to prove them wrong.

Along with all the important work going towards bringing the company to life, there were a lot of changes going on in the personal lives of all those involved as well. The summer after Tadashi and Fred graduated college, they officially got married and they moved into their own place. Hiro was a bit sad to not have his brother living in the same house with him anymore, but at least they saw each other at the university every day while Hiro was still studying and Tadashi was working on Callaghan's research team. Then the summer after Hiro graduated college, he and Ezra actually got their own place, with an official wedding ceremony once Ezra graduated (not that they necessarily needed one-for Alphas and Omegas imprinting was what really mattered, even by legal standards-but Aunt Cass insisted and both guys agreed after it was all said and done that the effort that had gone into it had definitely been worth it with how sweet and romantic it had turned out.)

So yes. There had been a lot of changes in the last six years-some easier than others, but the good outweighed the bad, and as Hiro looked back over them all, he knew that he wouldn't have changed any of it, even if he could somehow go back and try to alter history. Still, things had sort of leveled out for a little while now, and while in his teenage years he's always hated when things were too calm, needing constant excitement and challenges to face in order to keep from being bored (that had been part of the reason he'd been involved in illegal bot fighting for a couple years), now he was glad to have some time to just rest and go with the flow for a bit. Things were going great, and he didn't see any need for them to change. That is, he didn't until the day that changed everything for forever.

It had started out as a fairly casual Saturday-Tadashi and Fred had invited him and Ezra as well as Aunt Cass over to their apartment for a late lunch. Hiro was always more than happy to get to spend time with his older brother outside of work, and getting to see Aunt Cass and Fred (who he didn't always get to see as much) was definitely an added bonus. He was looking forward to a nice, relaxing afternoon with the family. But almost as soon as he got there, he got the feeling that it wasn't going to be as simple as all that.

He'd noticed that Tadashi had been acting a little oddly in the last few weeks, but given it was mostly behaviors like eating a lot followed by throwing up several times each morning, he figured he was just getting ready for heat. It was true that Tadashi had just gone through a heat very recently, but sometimes a person's biology could screw them over and make them have another one right after they'd finished with one. If Tadashi was calling Baymax into his office a lot, well, he was probably just trying to make sure that there wasn't anything medically wrong causing him to have a second heat.

Still, as Hiro watched Tadashi and Fred interacting today while they ate lunch, he couldn't help but notice that something was definitely different about how they were acting around each other. Fred was usually pretty laid back around Tadashi, not treating him like he was fragile just because he was an Omega, but today it seemed like every time Hiro saw them together, the fanboy was constantly asking the other male how he was feeling, if he needed anything, and basically insisting on not letting him do any of the work himself. Hiro was a little bit put off by it-when had Fred become some clingy and overbearing? Tadashi seemed a bit frustrated by it too, but he was mostly handling it with good grace-he certainly had more patience than Hiro would have had in the same position. If anything, Tadashi almost seemed to be… Hiro didn't really have a word for it except maybe _glowing_. It wasn't until after lunch was over and the dishes had been cleared away, though, that the younger man found out exactly what the cause of all this was.

Everyone was making small talk, just catching up on each other's news, with both Tadashi and Fred being oddly quiet, until finally Tadashi breaks his silence, saying, "Okay, I can't hold it in any longer-Fred and I have some major news to tell you guys!"

"Really?" Aunt Cass asks as she looks away from her conversation with Ezra about some ideas she'd had for a side catering business that she'd wanted his professional advice on.

"What is it?" Hiro presses curiously, somewhat surprised that he hadn't heard about this "big news", unless it was something Tadashi had told him already-usually his elder sibling told him right off the bat when he had something on his mind or if he was making an important decision.

"Well…" Tadashi looks up at Fred, who was grinning back at him like a lovestruck idiot, before continuing, "As you all probably know, it's pretty hard for a Beta and an Omega to conceive-it's possible, but the chances are very low. And Fred and I have been trying for a couple years now with no success."

"Oh, honey," Aunt Cass says softly. "I'm so sorry…"

Hiro nods in sympathy, although to be honest in the back of his mind he couldn't help but think about how the concept of pregnancy had always been a little weird to him. He understood why it needed to happen for the continuation of humanity and all that, and he was happy for people who enjoyed the whole process. But it just was something that he'd never wanted for himself. He knew that Ezra wanted kids really badly and had even been hinting at it recently, and it wasn't that Hiro would mind having kids with him-he sometimes found himself thinking about what it might be like having a little boy or girl running around the truth, though, was that he didn't want to go through the process of actually having said boy or girl actually growing inside of him, and he had no clue how he was supposed to explain that to his mate...

Suddenly realizing that he was getting sidetracked and probably about to miss out on some important information, Hiro quickly turns his attention back to the conversation at hand, hoping that he hadn't already missed something.

"Are you guys thinking about adopting?" Ezra was asking the other couple curiously.

"Well-we've definitely thought about it," Fred answers, gently squeezing his mate's shoulder. "And maybe someday we might look into that. But for now, actually-"

"I'm finally pregnant!" Tadashi was beaming as he announces the news.

There was a moment of stunned silence, and in it Hiro felt his world turning on its head. Tadashi, his older brother, his nii-chan-was pregnant? He was actually going to have a baby? It seemed impossible-somehow it suddenly felt like only yesterday that they'd been kids themselves, running around the Cafe, getting underfoot and playing make believe. But now-Tadashi was getting ready to be a dad, to bring his own little light into the world? It didn't seem like he should be anywhere ready to be a parent yet! And yet…

When Hiro looked at Tadashi again, he could just _tell_ that he really was ready. He looked happier than Hiro had ever seen him before, it was like he was radiating the pure joy that he was feeling inside, as if he just couldn't contain it. Hiro still felt weird about the whole concept of pregnancy, but if it made his brother this happy, then he was going to be happy for him. Beyond that, the ramifications that he was about to have a little niece or nephew suddenly hit him and he was floored by the idea-he was going to be an uncle! Him, an uncle! He didn't know how good a job he'd do of being a responsible uncle figure to this kid, but he'd be damned if he didn't try his hardest!

Without even really thinking about what he was doing, in the midst of Aunt Cass and Ezra showering the prospective parents with congratulations and good wishes, he makes his way over to his brother and wraps his arms tightly around him, whispering fiercely into his ear, "I'm so, so happy for you Dashi. And I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that you and the baby are all right, okay?"

"Thank you." Tadashi hugs him back with as much force, pulling him close. "I know you're going to be an amazing uncle."

"I'll do my best," Hiro promises before asking, "Is there anything you need me to do? I mean, I know that you're obviously going to need some time off work when the baby comes, and I am totally fine with you taking as long a paternity leave as you want to! Your little guy or gal deserves all the attention in the world! But what about for now? What do you need leading up to that?"

"Well…" Tadashi colors slightly. "For one thing, thank you about being so understanding about paternity leave-for long term, it makes the most sense for Fred to be the stay at home parent since he's a writer and he works out of the house and is there most of the time anyways. But I'm going to need a bit of time to recover after the C-section, and it would be nice to have some time at home with the baby after that…"

"Done," Hiro agrees firmly. "What else?"

"I'm going to be at the company as much as I can leading up to the baby's due date," Tadashi answers slowly. "But I might have to… Well, work less hours and try not to do anything too strenuous just because…."

"Because Baymax said, even though everything's fine for now and he's going to closely monitor him during the entire gestation period, Tadashi needs to be careful not to over exert himself," Fred puts in for him. "Because of the nature of the pregnancy, sometimes there can be… complications that happen if the Omega isn't careful enough."

"Say no more!" Hiro declares, nodding in agreement-there was no way he was going to let either his brother or this baby get hurt on his watch! "I'll make sure he's taking really good care of himself whenever he's at the company!"

"Thank you, Hiro." Tadashi flashes him a grateful smile. "I don't want to be a burden or seem like I'm trying to get out of work, it's just-"

"The safety of you and the baby is a million times more important than trying to keep up with any quotas!" Hiro states firmly.

"Besides, he knows you'd do the same thing for him!" Ezra adds.

"I… Yeah…" Hiro agrees, an uncomfortable feeling curling in his stomach. He couldn't miss the slightly longing look that his mate has on his face as he continues to talk to Tadashi about the baby, and he had a bad feeling that he knew what was coming. It wasn't that he could blame Ezra-the guy was a natural with kids, as much as he tried to deny it, and, more than that, a natural dad. But how was Hiro supposed to make him happy without having to do something that felt totally and completely wrong to him? Somehow the excitement of Tadashi's announcement ebbed away from him, and even though he tried to keep smiling and stay involved in the conversation the others were having about the parents' plans for the future, he finds himself slowly shutting down, not able to handle the thought of the conversation he knew was in his near future. At first he thought that Ezra was just so caught up in talking to Fred and Tadashi that he hadn't noticed the change in his demeanor, but almost as soon as they get in the car later that afternoon to head home, his mate turns to him and asks softly,

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"What?" Hiro flinches away from him, as if Ezra had just touched a very sensitive nerve. "N-Nothing's wrong!"

"Love, I can tell when you're upset about something," Ezra answers gently. "Come on-whatever it is, you can tell me."

Hiro stares at the floor for a full minute, trying to figure out what to do, before finally blurting out, "Ezra, I don't want to have a baby!"

"W-What?" Ezra stares at him, looking mildly shocked. "Hiro, who said anything about you having a baby?"

"You didn't have to say it," Hiro quietly mumbles. "I-I could see it on your face in there. You want what Dashi and Fred have. A-And I want to give it to you-I want to give you the baby you want. But I just-I can't handle the thought of ever being pregnant. I don't _want_ that, Ez! It just feels _wrong_. For Dashi, yes! He wants to carry this baby, it makes him happy, and I'm happy for him! But it's not okay for me! I don't mind the idea of having kids-I'd love to be a parent with you! But me actually having to carry a baby… I just… I can't, Ez…"

He half expected Ezra to yell at him after that-to tell him that he was a horrible mate, that he was being selfish. But instead what he found was the other man wrapping his arms around him, pulling him close, and whispering gently in his ear, "It's okay, Hiro. It's okay. You don't have to get pregnant if you don't want to-of course you don't! I would never, ever force that on you! I know that you've never really been comfortable with the typical Omega stuff, and if carrying a baby is one of those things, then that is totally and completely fine! I love you, and you being happy comes first to me."

As much as Hiro was trying not to, he finds himself crying as he whispers, "I'm sorry… You're doing this for me and I feel like I'm taking away something that's so important to you…"

"Don't you _ever_ think that way." Ezra hugs him fiercely to his chest. "I came into this relationship loving you exactly as you are, and I never want you to see you change for anyone-not for stupid society, not for your family or friends, and especially not for me. It would kill me to know that you were doing something that was completely against who you are just to try to make someone else happy. Now c'mon-let's just go home and we'll have a nice night in and we don't have to talk about this anymore, okay?"

"O-Okay," Hiro agrees with a small nod. He wasn't fully convinced that he believed Ezra or that this was really a good place to stop the conversation, but he could tell from the expression on his mate's face that he wasn't going to say anything more on the subject, at least not right now. It was somewhat comforting knowing that his mate was okay with him not wanting to have a baby through pregnancy. On the other hand, he felt like somehow he was taking something away from Ezra by not going through with this. They could always adopt, which they'd discussed in passing before, and while Hiro was fine with that, he knew that Ezra really wanted a child that was biologically theirs-both of theirs.

Sometimes he knew that couples experiencing difficulties with pregnancy would go to a surrogate-it would be simple enough to surgically remove one of Hiro's eggs, have it fertilized with Ezra's sperm in a lab, and implant the baby into another Omega's uterus to be grown there. But somehow Hiro didn't really like that idea-he was glad for the couples that it worked for, but something just didn't feel right to him about having someone else carry a baby and then be expected to give it up. Besides that, having someone else involved in something that was so intimately between him and Ezra didn't feel right either. He'd almost rather just carry the baby himself at that point.

So what was he supposed to do? None of the options would make either of them entirely happy. It seemed so wrong that there wasn't another option-a way that would satisfy both of them. But there just wasn't another way for them to have a baby-was there?

Suddenly, Hiro feels the spark of an idea in his brain, and he mentally reaches out for it, carefully grasping the kindling of the concept before fanning it into flame, feeding the smoldering stick until it was spreading like wildfire through his synapses. What if there was really another option? What if he, Hiro, _made_ another option? It sounded insane, but it wouldn't be the first time that one of his ingenious ideas had been called that! He barely manages to hold it together until they get home, but the minute that the car pulls into the driveway he was unbuckling his seatbelt and throwing the door open, dashing for the house where he could have access to his workshop.

"Hiro? Hiro, what are you doing?" Ezra calls after him, looking understandably concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!" Hiro shouts back over his shoulder, grinning. "I think everything might actually finally be right!"


	9. Epilogue Part 2

For the next six months, Hiro all but holed himself away in his office, working away on his latest invention. After he had the general designs for it nailed down, he showed them to his older brother, who was more than happy to get involved in the process of actually building it, telling him that it was a revolutionary idea-something that could not only help Omegas in Hiro's position, but help couples who couldn't naturally conceive on their own, like same sex Alpha/Alpha and Omega/Omega pairs, and even couples who just had a difficult time trying to get pregnant, like he and Fred had. Honestly Hiro hadn't thought that far into the process, just trying to make something that would help him and Ezra, but he had to admit that Tadashi had a point, and if his invention could help others, well, he certainly wasn't about to turn his nose up at that opportunity!

As he neared the end of his project, Tadashi was able to spend less and less time helping him out-as the baby grew, Tadashi had a harder time maneuvering around the labs, and he seemed to be getting tired from even the shortest amounts of exertion, which was starting to seriously worry Hiro. So when Baymax said that it was probably for the best that Tadashi go on complete bed rest until his actual due date, Hiro and Fred absolutely agreed with him, despite the older man's protestations that he would be fine. Hiro especially had to reassure him multiple times that he'd be able to finish the machine on his own, that his having to take a break wasn't going to keep him from being able to complete it. And complete it Hiro did.

Almost one month to the day before Tadashi's due date, Hiro was looking over his invention with a feeling of deep seated pride that he'd actually _done_ it. He knew that it would still be a while before he could actually test its capabilities for humans-he definitely wanted to do trials (completely humanely, of course) with animals first. Still, he had a very, very good feeling that this was going to work, and so he decided that it was finally time to let his husband in on what exactly he'd been working on all this time. He wanted to tell him the news in the perfect way, though, which is why the next day he secretly left work early to sneak back home a few hours before Ezra would be returning and prepare the perfect surprise for his mate.

The atmosphere had to be just right, and preferably as romantic and intimate as 's why Hiro decided to actually cook dinner instead of just ordering food in-he didn't really mind cooking, he just usually didn't have time for it so it was easier to get something ready made. Still, Ezra seemed to love it whenever he did cook for him, and Hiro didn't mind doing it for this special occasion-not because he felt like he had to, but because he wanted to do something nice for the mate who was always doing so many nice things for him. The same thought process went into choosing his wardrobe for the evening after he had the meal finished and laid out on the table.

Hiro had never been a big fan of the robes that were traditionally supposed to be worn by Omegas at special events (thank goodness someone had done away with the idea often found in history that Omegas should wear them everywhere for "modesty" reasons)-he didn't necessarily have anything against them, they were usually just a bit hard to move around in and kind of heavy so he preferred his everyday clothes, thank you very much.

Pretty much the only time he'd worn them was to his own wedding-Ezra had said that he was fine with Hiro wearing a suit, but Aunt Cass and Honey Lemon had both insisted on Hiro following tradition, at least for the ceremony, and since the whole wedding was mainly for their families' benefit he'd finally caved in and just worn the stupid things. He'd immediately changed out of them after the ceremony was over and before he went to the reception, but he'd never forgotten the look on Ezra's face when he'd seen him walking down the aisle with Aunt Cass-it was if he thought he was looking at the most beautiful thing in the whole world. So even though Hiro wasn't a big fan of them, since he didn't feel like it was really violating part of who he was as a person and he was trying to do something really special for his mate as a 'thank you', he digs the robes out of the closet and puts them on. The weren't so bad, really-at least Honey Lemon had made them to be as least restricting as possible-and while he definitely didn't want to wear them every day, he didn't mind it for just a couple hours tonight (and, if things went as well as he hoped, it was possible he wouldn't be wearing these robes-or any clothes at all, for that matter-for even that long.)

He was waiting in the living room when Ezra finally got home, eagerly watching the front door for his arrival. When he hears the key turning in the lock and the door squeaking open, he was tempted to just run over to greet him, he was so excited to share the news, but he knew it would be more fun to wait and just watch his mate's reaction as he tries to figure out what was going on, so he just settles himself patiently on the arm of the couch, trying to keep a playful smirk off his face that would probably ruin the mood he was going for.

When Ezra walks into the living room, at first he starts to reach for the light switch, but then his eyes fall on the candle lit table in the dining room and he stops in surprise. "What the-?" he quietly starts to mutter, only to turn slightly and notice his mate, and at that point his mouth just drops open in astonishment.

"H-Hiro?" he finally manages to get out. "W-What's going on?"

"Welcome home!" Hiro grins and makes his way over to him, playfully wrapping his arms around his waist. "Surprised?"

"U-Um, yeah, definitely surprised," Ezra answers, still seeming to be getting over his shock but a smile making its way across his face as he asks, "What's all this for?"

"Well…" Hiro was bursting to tell him the news, but he decides that it would probably be best for them to get at least partially through dinner before he told Ezra or else they'd both probably be too excited to eat and it would be a shame to let all that food go to waste.

"There's something important I want to tell you," he finally tells him before tugging on his mate's hand and saying, "But let's have dinner first, okay?"

"A-All right?" Ezra agrees, laughing slightly and still looking confused but following after him all the same, obviously knowing from experience not to try to rush things and just go with it.

Hiro was too full of nerves to get much of the food down himself or even to really register much of its flavor, but he was glad to see that his mate was enjoying it enough for both of them, constantly telling him how good everything was. It made him smile to see Ezra so happy-just because he wasn't a typical Omega and didn't hold himself to society's standards for Omegas, it didn't mean that there was anything wrong with him wanting to cook a meal for his mate every once in awhile. Sometimes for special occasions Ezra would cook for him and he was what most people would consider a fairly standard Alpha, and there wasn't anything wrong with that either! The important thing was that they had a balanced, give-and-take relationship, and neither of them expected the other to be someone who they weren't.

"So, I'm dying to know, what is all of this about?" Ezra asks when finally he's able to fend off Hiro's last offer of a refill on his plate, telling him that if he ate any more he was going to burst. "You don't usually cook dinner and dress-well, like that unless you have a really good reason for it."

"I do," Hiro admits, eyes shining as he grins at him. "Last night I finished something really special, and even though it's not quite ready for us to use it yet, now that it's well on its way to being there I wanted to tell you about it."

"Okay," Ezra agrees with a nod, obviously trying to follow along. Then his eyes light up as he asks, "Is it that secret project you've been working on all this time?"

"It is!" Hiro answers, beaming as he reaches across the table to take his mate's hand in his own. "But before I tell you what it is, I just want to say-Thank you, Ez. All this time, ever since the day I presented in that cafe, you have never once asked me to be something or someone that I'm not. You've supported me being exactly who I want to be, even though it's usually the exact opposite of how an Omega's 'supposed' to act, and you've always been there to remind me that it's okay to be who I am, even when other people tried to tell me to 'know my place'. You have helped make my dreams become possible when everyone else was telling me to give up just because of my class, and, even though I know it wasn't easy for you, most recently you've supported me making choices about being true to who I am with my body, even though you thought it meant giving up something that I know is so important to you."

"Hiro, I-" Ezra starts to cut in, but his mate silences him gently by pressing his fingers to his lips.

"Ez, I know what you're going to say," he tells him softly. "You've told me a million times before how much you love me and how you're so proud of me, and you have no idea how many hard times that's gotten me through. And tonight-tonight I want to do something for you as a thank you for that. Well, technically it's something for both of us, but still. Ez-I found a way for us to have our baby that doesn't involve me getting pregnant. Well, more accurately-I made a way." He pulls out his phone and eagerly pulls up a picture to show his mate, who was looking at him in total and complete shock. "This is a special incubator that will allow us to grow our baby inside it instead of inside of me. I-I still need to run some tests with animal couples to make sure that it's fully functioning, but I've run every algorithm, troubleshot every possible problem and I _know_ it's going to work. I-It's a way we can have our baby in a way that I think-I really, really hope-will make us both happy. Y-You inspired me, Ez. And thanks to you, this machine might be able to help others who have situations that make it hard for them to have kids to finally be able to have a family!"

Hiro pauses for a moment just to catch his breath before finally asking quietly, "...Well? W-What do you think?"

For one horrible moment, he was terrified that Ezra was going to tell him that he hated the idea, that there was no way that he could go through with something like this. But then suddenly a grin crosses the Alpha's face and he answers, "W-What do I think? Hiro, this is _amazing_! Oh my gosh… Oh my gosh! W-We're actually going to be able to have a baby!"

"We are!" Hiro answers, feeling tears of relief starting to leak out of his eyes in spite of himself. "I-It might still be another year before we can start while I run tests, but-"

"I don't care," Ezra answers firmly. "We've waited this long, we can wait a little longer! I just- Oh my gosh, Hiro…" He got out of his chair and, before his mate could react, he was scooping him up into his arms, peppering his face with kisses.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," Ezra breathes in his ear as Hiro finds himself laughing from the playful attack. "I love you so, so much. And I can't wait to be a dad with you."

"I can't wait to be a dad with you either," Hiro answers, happily nuzzling up against him and submitting to the barrage of kisses. For the first time since he'd started on this project, the reality of the situation was actually starting to sink-he and Ezra were actually going to be parents! And as odd and maybe even slightly scary as the idea had sounded before, now he knew without a doubt that he was ready for this-that he actually wanted this as much as Ezra did, and that he couldn't wait to have kids with him. And it had nothing to do with being an Omega or any other class. It was his decision, and it was something he really wanted-something he wanted to do with his mate-and he was more than ready for it.

Somehow eventually the playful kisses Ezra was pressing all over him turned to something a little bit friskier, and Hiro felt the familiar thrill as his husband starts carrying him up the stairs to their bedroom-if this was part of how his mate wanted to celebrate, well, he certainly didn't have anything against it! As soon as Ezra gently tosses him down onto the mattress, he eagerly sheds his robes, ready for their special night to begin. But just as the Alpha was just starting to attack his neck in earnest, suddenly the phone that was still in Ezra's pants pocket starts to ring.

"Ignore it," Hiro purrs when he sees Ezra reaching to check it, pulling him down on top of him. "It can wait."

"H-Hiro!" Ezra protests with a laugh, gently pushing himself back up. "A-At least let me turn it off so that it won't keep interrupting us!"

"Fine…" Hiro sighs petulantly, settling himself more comfortably into the mattress. The sooner his mate took care of the distraction, the sooner they could get back to what was really important.

But instead of immediately returning to him, Ezra frowns and says, "That's weird, it's Fred-he doesn't usually call my phone. I-I think I should pick up, just in case it's something about Tadashi and the baby."

As Hiro sits up to try to listen to the conversation, he feels an odd feeling of dread, as if somehow he had some idea of what was going to happen even before his mate hit the green "Answer" button. Time seemed to slow down as he watches Ezra's smile upon hearing Fred's voice turn to a frown and then to a look of deep concern-Hiro's heart was beating too loudly for him to be able to hear what he was saying even though he was desperately trying to listen. And then, after what felt like both an eternity and no time at all, his mate was turning to him and saying-something. He could barely understand him through the thick fog that seemed to be surrounding him, but he was pretty sure it was something about clothes. What about clothes? Why were clothes important right now? Then a few more words filter through-"Tadashi", "baby", "emergency room", and then, worst of all, "complications with the pregnancy".

Hiro wasn't even sure how he managed to get dressed-maybe Ezra had helped him, honestly he couldn't remember. Everything was coming to him in flashes. One moment he was in his room with Ezra. The next they were in the car, one of Ezra's hands tightly wrapped around his own, the other on the steering wheel, clutching it so hard that his knuckles were pure white. After that everything went blank until he found himself stumbling out of the car in what he could only assume was the hospital's parking lot, Ezra guiding him towards the sliding doors. Inside the doors they were in a room that was bright-too bright, too full of people, but oddly muted, as if someone had turned down the volume of the whole world. Ezra was saying something to a woman at a desk, and then doctors were guiding them through a set of silver doors, through hallways that seemed endless, until finally they were in a smaller, still bright room, and only then did the world seem to come slightly back into focus as he spotted Aunt Cass sitting in a chair, Fred pacing in circles and looking more distraught than he'd ever seen him. Without even really thinking about what he was doing, Hiro half-stumbles out of Ezra's arms and over to the other man, grabbing his arm and desperately asking, "T-Tadashi?"

"H-He's in surgery right now," Fred answers, tears evident in his eyes as he shakes his head and an expression of utter terror, of despair on his face as he continues, "T-They're doing everything they can, but they don't know if he and the baby… If they're going to…"

And then Hiro's world went completely black. He had a momentary sensation of falling, of arms catching him, but then there was just nothingness. He lost all concept of space, of time, but it felt like quite a while before he finally becomes aware of a bright light-a glaring, almost blinding light shining down on him, and finally he blinks his eyes open, finding himself looking up at a white ceiling and some kind of cost effective but hideously obtrusive fluorescent light. Trying to figure out where he was, he starts to sit up, only to find the entire world swimming before his eyes and almost making him black out again.

"Hiro!" From somewhere he distantly hears Ezra's voice, and then he felt two strong, familiar arms wrapping around him, supporting him, and gradually everything starts to come back into focus.

"E-Ez?" he croaks, finding his throat oddly sore.

"It's okay, love," Ezra says gently, seeming to be stacking what felt like pillows behind him before settling him back against them. "You're going to be all right. You fainted for a while there, but the doctors said it was just the stress and that you'll be good as new in no time."

"S-Stress?" Hiro repeats, his brain still seeming to be coming back online, and then suddenly his eyes snap open and he sits bolt upright as everything from the night before comes rushing back to him. "T-Tadashi! The baby! Oh my gosh, are they-?"

"They're fine, Hiro!" Ezra reassures him, quickly pushing him back against the pillows, and a good thing too because the Omega had almost felt the room spinning again from his own jarring motion only moments before. "They're both perfectly fine! It was a bit scary for a little while there, but they got Daniel out of there okay, and Tadashi pulled through! He's still resting right now, but they said he's going to make a full recovery!"

"T-Thank goodness," Hiro whispers, feeling for the first time since he'd gotten the phone call last night like he could actually breathe, and then he looks up at his mate in surprise as something he'd just said registers. "Wait, Daniel? I-It's a boy?" At any time Baymax could have told them the sex of the child, but Tadashi and Fred had both decided that they wanted it to be a surprise, and Hiro had held with their wishes by not going behind their backs to ask the nursebot to give him the information

"It's a boy!" Ezra agrees, beaming. "And probably the cutest one I've ever seen! He's a bit early so he's on the small side, but the doctors said he's going to be just fine-he doesn't even have to stay here any extra time. He's got Tadashi's ears, and he's also got his eyes, although they're blue like Fred's. And I think he may be taking after Aunt Cass in the hair department because the fuzz looks pretty brown right now, although it's possible it'll get darker as he gets older."

"W-Wow…" Hiro breathes, warmth pooling in his chest. "I-I actually have a nephew!"

"We both do," Ezra answers playfully, lovingly pecking his forehead.

"When can I go see him?" Hiro demands eagerly.

"Let me see if I can get a doctor to come check you out really quick, and if they say you can get up, then you can go see him right now!" Ezra tells him with a grin.

It felt like forever (which was probably only an hour) before Hiro was finally officially released from his hospital room, and as soon as he was he was all but dragging Ezra down the hallway in the direction of what he'd been told was Tadashi's hospital room. When he finally arrives at the right door, he eagerly pushes it open, and inside he finds a very happy scene-Fred was standing next to the hospital bed in the middle of the room, holding the hand of Tadashi, who was absolutely radiating joy, not even seeming to notice the fact that his hair (which he was usually so particular about) looked like something of a sweaty mess from labor.

"Nii-chan!" It had been years since Hiro had called his older brother that childhood nickname, but somehow it slips out as he races over to him, needing to see and feel for himself that his older brother really was okay.

"Hiro!" Tadashi looks up and grins when he sees him running towards him.  
"Are you okay?" Hiro asks, halting about a foot from the bed, afraid that he might accidentally do something that would hurt him. "Are you really, really okay?"

"I'm fine, Hiro," Tadashi reassures him with a warm smile. "I'm sorry I scared everyone, but the doctors said that I'm going to be completely all right."

"Thank goodness…" Hiro lets out a huge sigh of relief before finally noticing the blue blanketed bundle nestled in the crook of his brother's arm. "O-Oh my gosh, i-is that...?"

"Come say 'hi' to your new nephew." Tadashi beams up at him, adjusting his position ever so slightly so that Hiro could see the baby better-and immediately Hiro knew without a doubt that this was the sweetest, cutest baby that he had ever seen in his entire life.

"Hi there…" he says softly, instinctively reaching out but then quickly withdrawing his hand as he suddenly comes to the realization that this was a living, breathing child in front of him, and the terror that he might somehow do something to hurt it overwhelms him.

Still, before he can fully pull away, Tadashi drags him back in (his grip surprisingly strong given everything he'd just been through) and tells him, "C'mere! Daniel wants to be held by his uncle!" And before he could protest, his older brother was pressing the blanketed bundle into his arms.

For a moment, Hiro was stiff with fear, his arms locking around the baby, sure that he was somehow going to drop him or hurt him. But then he looks down into that adorable little face and he feels his whole body relaxing, finding himself cooing as he cuddles his tiny nephew close.

"Hi there…" he says softly, gently rocking the baby back and forth. "I'm your Uncle Hiro. And I promise I'm going to help take real good care of you, okay?"

Daniel was fast asleep, and besides which he was too young to have really understood any of that, but Hiro finds himself beaming as he watches the sleeping child. In spite of the fact that he prided himself on not being an overly sentimental or emotional person (although Ezra might have disagreed with that description), he felt that maybe he could make an exception for this little one. This was Tadashi's baby, after all, and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that Daniel had the best life possible.

"He's perfect, Dashi," he says when he finally returns the sleeping bundle to his brother's waiting ams.

"Thank you." Tadashi grins up at him before a slightly sad look crosses his face and he says, "I'm glad at least I got to have this one before..."

"Before what?" Hiro frown in concern. "What's wrong?"

"I... The doctors said-and Fred and I have agreed-that I'm going to have to have an operation to make sure I don't get pregnant again," Tadashi answers, not meeting his brother's eyes and holding Daniel close. "I-It's not that I don't want to have another baby. You know I've always wanted a big family. But with the complications I had with this one, it's not a guarantee that I'd survive another pregnancy, and we can't take the chance, so…"

"Oh, Dashi…" Hiro breathes, his heart breaking for him. No! This wasn't fair! Even though he himself had never really wanted more than maybe one or two children, he knew that ever since they'd been kids Tadashi had always talked about wanting a large family of his own. Daniel was supposed to be the first of many kids that his brother would absolutely love and adore, each in their own unique way. The fact that he was being forced into something like this-to have his dream taken away so suddenly-was sure to be crushing him, even if he was managing to keep a brave face on it. And Hiro wasn't about to allow that to happen.

"Dashi," he says firmly, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder, "Daniel doesn't have to be your last. I'm going to make sure of it."

"W-What?" Tadashi looks up at him in surprise. "H-Hiro, how can you-?"

"The incubator!" Hiro answers, an eager grin making its way onto his face. "It's perfect! We're going to be looking for different types of couples to test it out, right? Who better to test it out for a Beta/Omega pair than you and Fred? Obviously we have to get through the animal testing stage first and Ezra and I are the first in line to test it out for the human tests as an Alpha and Omega, but maybe after us…?"

"T-That would be amazing," Tadashi breathes, beaming up at him, tears starting to pool in his eyes.

"Then it's settled!" Hiro grins back down at him. "So don't you start crying on me, bro, you're going to have that big family one way or another!"

"I-I'm trying not to cry," Tadashi laughs, wiping at the tears that were leaking out in spite of his best efforts. "But I promise these are happy tears, otouto."  
"Good." Hiro smiles, feeling the joy of helping his brother swelling in his chest, and when he looks over at Fred, he can see him mouthing a silent "thank you" to him.

Ezra and Hiro probably would have stayed in the room longer, but just then a doctor comes bustling in and shoos them both out, telling them that the father and the baby both needed their rest. Hiro didn't really want to leave, but since he knew that Tadashi and Daniel were all right he allows Ezra to lead him out into the waiting room where Aunt Cass was to sit until they were allowed back in again. The Alpha's phone kept blowing up with texts from their friends who were all begging to know when they could come see Tadashi and the baby-eventually he just had to turn it off because he wasn't exactly the person to answer those questions, deciding to leave it up to Fred to handle that.

Hiro was contentedly nuzzling up against Ezra, staring out the window at the beautiful day outside and feeling completely at peace with the world, when he feels his mate shifting slightly and say softly, "Hey, Hiro?"

"Yeah?" Hiro glances up at him, wondering what was on his mind.  
"Well-I know that it's pretty far in advance, and we don't know what sex our baby is going to be yet," Ezra answers, "but I was thinking… If we have a little girl-I kind of like the name Hope."

"Hope…" Hiro repeats, trying it out to see how it felt in his mouth, and then he grins up at his mate and answers, "I love it. It's absolutely perfect."

And it was. Because this baby they were going to be bringing into the world was going to be the product of and the representation of so many kinds of hope. Hope for couples who had never been able to have children naturally being able to finally have families of their own. The hope that this would be the first of many changes that would eventually lead to society not caring so much about class, but about actual people, no matter how they presented. The hope that, by the time Hope was the age Hiro was now, the world would be a better, more open, and more accepting place and that she could be herself, no matter who or what she wanted to be. And the hope that, if that wasn't the case, then maybe she could be the one who would spark the change that would make the world the type of place that she wanted it to be. Because, at the end of the day, that's what kept people working to make the changes that would make the world a better place and the thing that kept them going, no matter how hard things got: hope. It was truly a beautiful word. And it was the best gift that Hiro could ever hope to give to his child.

 _~Fin_


End file.
